The High Life
by confused-me
Summary: When street kid, Charlie is sent to Horizon she is faced with some issues from her past, as well as finding new friends and romance. But have they met before somewhere along the way? FINISHED. Please Review
1. High on a Hill in the Middle of Nowhere

**The High Life**

Chapter 1- It was not stealing, it was permanently borrowing

Charlie was always misunderstood. She was the one in the corner of the classroom writing lines and pretending to think about what she'd done. That's when she actually went to school.

She was pretty, tall with dark brown hair and hazel eyes. To her dismay she got a lot of attention. She was always finding herself to be the center of attention. Her life was never easy after her mom died. Her dad was either at the bar, drinking his problems away or beating them out, using her as the punching bag. Now she found herself facing magistrate at the Boston South Court.

"Charlie Christensen, it seems you've been coming up before me for the last 6 years", the judge gave out a smile that could make a serial killer scared. "Can I help it if you don't get a promotion", Charlie said being her usual facetious self. "Miss Christensen is this some kind of a joke to you. I can assure you this is very, very serious. 1999, June 30, petty theft, November 12th, assault on a girl who was trying to squeeze past through a long queue, 2000, May 15th, caught with possession of illegal drugs, then again in 2001 on January the 2nd, 2002, picked up twice on the 13th of May and then again in December for assault, 2003, 25th August petty theft and now May 12th, caught trying to rob a 7/11. Seems I've let you off too easily, from an early age you were abandoned right, uh...age 11. (Charlie flinches) Another judge might care. I'm giving you a choice here and believe me I've never done this before. You can either go to Juvie or an at-risk school for teens in Canada", the judge surprised Charlie with that one. Charlie gave out a laugh. "Well, I'm waiting for an answer" "Who's gonna pay for this at-risk school, I thought they cost lots of money", she said sounding uninterested. "Oh believe me they do. But here we have an organization for struggling kids". "Like a charity", Charlie hated being seen as if she needed help, "Great". She said sarcastically. "Which is it Miss Christensen", the judge was losing her temper. Charlie sighs. "Guess I'm going to Canada"

To Charlie Mt Horizon looked more like some Summer Camp than a place for delinquents to go when no one else wants them. As she arrived at the gate, she saw a man waiting. The policeman got out of the car and opened the door for her. "Alright...uh names Charlie Christensen, street kid since 11, now 17, she's been involved in many crimes, uh... drugs, assault, her last offence was theft", the policeman sounded formal as he spoke to the man Charlie figured was the owner. "Thankyou". "Now if it's ok I have to get back. Big case, so I'll see ya", the policeman got in the car. "Bye", said the man.

As the policeman drove off Charlie took her chance to look around more. She saw the wooden dorms that looked more like those country bed and breakfast cottages with the floral wallpaper. "Charlie, Hi I'm Peter, I'll be your supervisor", the man said. "Now uh I've gotten someone to be your first week buddy. She'll teach you the ropes around here. Other than that, I need you to come to the infirmary, just to search, tell you all the rules, that kinda thing. Any questions?" "Are we allowed to hate you", Charlie said blandly. "Yes, for the first few weeks you are allowed to hate me, but I can guarantee that by the end of those few weeks, you'll grow to love me", Peter mused. "Or I could just kill myself", she said. A look of concern comes across Peters face. Charlie reminds him of a girl that graduated last year. And it really worries him. "Hello Shelby Merrick", he thinks to himself.

After a long day at the infirmary Charlie finally got to meet her "inmates". "So, you're Russian huh?" Kat, her new buddy asked as they walked across the field to the mess hall. Kat was an African American with long black hair. "Why would you think that?" "You have a look. I don't know, I can just tell", Kat explained. "I'm Irish, my dad was Turkish", Charlie said unenthusiastically. Charlie couldn't understand why Kat was in here. She was way too chirpy to have gotten herself into a situation like this. The girls walked into a big room with a sign on the door saying Mess Hall. As she walked in four boys stared at her. "Hey Kat, who's the newbie", a guy with jet black hair and darkish skin asked. "Oh guys, this is Charlie, she just got sent here, Charlie this is Binna, Ezra and Patrick", Kat introduced her. After exchanging greetings the two girls veered off again.

Later on in the night when Charlie had been shown around, she was exhausted. She couldn't remember the last time she's walked so much. She thought back to when she was on the streets and the most she did all day was sit around looking for coins. But that was before all the other stuff happened. After being shown her dorm she crashed on to her bed.

Kat had never known anyone with as much attitude as Charlie had. She was looking forward to meeting the new girl and when she came she was upset because Charlie didn't even want to do anything. She kept telling herself that this place was for people with issues and not all of them are gonna be easy to get along with. Finally, the girls walked in after a long hard day chopping wood. "So, how is she", Mac, a girl with light brown hair and freckles asked. "Uh, she seems ok, she wasn't very talkative but I guess that's normal," Kat told her. "She better be cool, I couldn't stand another Cristina", Shane, a tough gothic looking girl with died black hair said. "So is this what you guys do all day, sit around gossiping about people when you think there sleeping", Charlie sat up on her bed. "We weren't gossiping, we were just talking", Kat said. "Forget about it, I don't even care". The girls watch as she walks out of the dorm. "Nice", Mac mouthed sarcastically. A minute later a blonde girl that bares a striking resemblance to Barbie walks in and the girls go quiet. "Ok was that the new girl I just saw because she is not gonna get anywhere with an attitude like that", Cristina said as she walked in and plumped down on her bed. "Oh Cristina calm down, you'll burst another cell in that so called brain of yours", Shane teased. "You're just jealous". "Of what?" Shane asked wondering what she could possibly be jealous about. "Oh come on everything about me makes you envious", Cristina said actually believing what she was saying. "Yeah, I'm just desperate to become your clone", Shane remarked.

"Oh, and Shane, wearing black, its so 80's. So don't", Cristina said as she walked out. "Yes my queen", Shane bowed mocking her. "Ok, how is it humanly possible for Damien and Cristina do be a couple", Mac asked. "I have no idea. Anyway I gotta go help Pat with his writing. See ya later guys", Kat got up and walked out.


	2. Blast From the Past

The High Life

Hello, hello. Just a short note to say thank you to Unwanted Fruitopia for your constructive criticism. I think I'll take you up on that idea. This is my first ever fan fiction and I'm very nervous about how this stories going to go. Guys, I'm a very fragile person so please, please don't be too mean in reviews. Thank you, thank you and on with the story. I should also say that Ezra is from the actual series of Higher Ground. I liked him so much I had to put him in. Kat on the other hand is a completely different person- full name- Katerina.

I don't own Higher ground. I own all characters except Peter, Sophie, and Ezra.

Chapter 2: Blast from the Past

It was the morning after Charlie had arrived at Mt Horizon and already she could tell she wasn't going to like it here. She was in the cafeteria eating what the people here liked to call food. Although she couldn't complain. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten all three meals of the day. She sat by herself. She wasn't used to all this attention people had been giving here since she'd come and some of these people really annoyed her.

Across the other side of the room sat the rest of the Cliffhangers. Kat wasn't sure about this new girl. She new that most newbie's to time to get used to the weird circumstances of being stuck in one of these schools but she was also disappointed because she really wanted to make friends with someone different.

"Uh, guys, I'm going to go see if Charlie wants to join us ok", she said leaving the table, not giving them a chance to answer back. She walked over to Charlie's table.

"Hey", she said in a chirpy voice. Charlie just stared at her, rolling her eyes. "You know, you can sit with us if you want?"

"I don't want", Charlie replied in distaste.

"We don't bite", Kat knew that Charlie wasn't going to be made to do anything she didn't want to do but she didn't want to give up.

"I do".

"Look", Kat sighed, "you're not going to make a lot of friends here if you don't try".

"Who says I want to make friends, I just want to get out of here", Charlie's mind wasn't going to be changed. "I don't even belong here".

Kat couldn't help but chuckle. "If I had a dollar for every newbie that's said that in the last two years that I've been here, I'd buy a house in Paris".

Charlie reaches for her pocket and pulls out a dollar. She slams in down on the table.

"Here's a buck" her sarcasm showing, "start saving".

"Have it your way" Kat wasn't going to take this, "but if you get on the wrong side of those guys over there, your time here is going to be ten times worse than it has to be. Trust me on that". With that she walks back to her table, a little angry at Charlie.

"So, what's up with her", Ezra asked.

"Newbie stress, I'm guessing", Kat answered matter of factly.

"I hope Peter doesn't expect us all to get along with this chick, cos the way she's going..." Mac doesn't finish her sentence leaving it to people's imagination.

"I don't know" Kat sighed, "Maybe we've just got to get to know here a little more".

"So, uh when's Damien getting back anyways", Binna asked changing the subject.

"Oh, you miss him already", Patrick teased in his thick Irish accent.

"I do", Shane said, "I can't stand Cristina's moping any longer. She's driving me insane".

"More so than you already are", Kat teased

"I just can't explain it", Shane said sarcastically, "Lock me up in a psychiatric hospital if that's what you want",

"Getting back on the subject at hand", Ezra spoke up, "I think he gets back around lunch".

"Just in time for the football game. We need our star player", Binna pointed out.

"I'm sure our golden boy'll be up for it" Shane said.

"I hope so", Binna said a little too hopeful, "We really need him.

"Oh, tell me you didn't make bets", Mac knew these guys too well.

Binna went a little quiet before bursting out. "I couldn't help it alright",

"Do you remember the last time you made bets with the Red backs, you were chopping there wood for three months", Mac said all knowingly.

"Yeah but this is different" Binna argued, "This time we're playing the Rock Climbers".

"You know he's got a point there" Patrick agreed, "The Rock Climbers couldn't kick a ball to save George Gregans life". (Australian football player, not too familiar with anybody else).

"My point exactly", Binna was satisfied, "So, girls, you in".

"Yeah sure, cos I don't care about having to wait on Josh Aitkens hand and foot" Shane said typically being her sarcastic self.

"Good", Binna said taking her answer as a yes, "Katerina, Mac?" Shane pulled a face.

"I'm in", Mac said simply.

"Sure" Kat said still distracted by Charlie. "I'm going to go see if Shane wants to play, you never know right?"

"Good luck", she heard Ezra say behind her.

"I thought I got rid of you before" Charlie said when Kat got to her table.

"You know, your not winning any points here"

"I wasn't aware I was trying to", Charlie said blandly.

"I just came over to tell you that there's a football game between the Cliff hangers and the Rock Climbers and we were wondering if you wanted to join in" Kat explained.

"I'd rather not".

"Fine" Kat couldn't hide that she was disappointed. "You know where we are if you need us".

"I can assure you I won't", Charlie managed to get in before Kat walked away.

The time was 1:20 and people were gathering around as a car pulled up the Mt Horizon driveway. Out stepped a boy, about 17, messy blonde, very good looking and waiting eagerly to hit his bed, unfortunately for him that wasn't going to happen. As he stepped out Cristina came rushing up to him, flinging her arms around him.

"I missed you so much" she shrieked. As she broke away she could tell something was wrong. "What happened?"

"I just want to go to my room, alright" he said exhaustedly.

"Damien", Cristina kept up.

"I'm just tired, I need some rest" he explained. As he left her puzzled, a man in his 40's walked up to her. He had also gotten out of the car.

"Frank, what's going on, why is he acting like this?" Cristina asked.

"The court case didn't go all that well, Cristina." Frank told her.

"Well, what do you mean by that?" she wanted more.

"He was public humiliated. And not to mention he didn't win".

Cristina looked back at the drowsy Damien walking up the steps to his dorm.

"Why so glum, chum", Damien heard a voice in the door way of his dorm.

He looked over. "Patrick I don't want to talk about it ok".

"Right. Well, would you like to not talk about it over a nice competitive game of football", Patrick asked.

"No".

"Ok, but are you quite sure. I mean is this really the decision you want to make", Patrick joked.

"Who'd you bet", Damien asked knowingly.

"The Rock climbers. Do you really want to be the reason why your mates are doing their kitchen duties, their laundry duties and their wood cutting duties for three whole months?" Patrick knew how to persuade this guy.

"Right now?" Damien said, "I really couldn't care less"

"You'll be hated for months to come, you'll be a social outcast, people will throw sticks at you when you're not looking, do you really want to be subjected to that humiliation?"

"I'm not in the mood alright" Damien laid back down in his bed.

"Well get in the mood. The next three months of my life is counting on this", Patrick tore off his covers and pulled him up, almost dragging him out of the room.

The moment to shine came and the group was out playing football. As the ball went back and forth from team to team, Charlie walks along watching trying not to look obvious. The Cliffhangers score a goal and Ezra pulls his shirt up over his head. Kat spots her watching and she runs over.

"Hey" she breathes out, "Come to watch.

"Just walking by" Charlie starts to walk away.

"You could still play if you want, there's another match".

"I told you, I don't want to play", Charlie said as Damien ran up.

"Hey, Kat come on, we're winning here..." Damien stops in mid sentence as he looks at Charlie. Charlie also looks at him in what could only be called as amazement.

"Wow", he said, his face dropped, "you look really familiar".

"Guess I got one of those familiar faces" she said, an ounce of relief can be heard in her voice.

"Yeah I guess so" he agreed, "I'm Damien".

"Yeah I really don't care" she mutters and walks off.

"What's up with her?" Damien asked Kat.

"I have no idea but I'm getting really tired of asking her" Kat said a little angry.

"What's her name?"

"Charlie Christensen, she came yesterday", Kat replied.

"Why is that so familiar", he said half to himself.

"Plenty of time to figure it out", Kat said, "Come on, we got a game to play".

The two run back out on the field. As the ball comes around to Cristina, she grabs it and tries to kick it towards Binna. Instead she accidentally gets Charlie in the back. Charlie turns around in anger and starts to walk forward.

"I am so sorry, I tried to...", before Cristina could finish her sentence Charlie threw a punch right to her chin. She started laying in to her.

"Stop, stop please", Cristina was pleading.

Various other members of the group were also pleading with her and trying to break them apart.

"Hey, stop it alright it was accident" Finally Damien pulls Charlie off of her. But Charlie hasn't finished yet. She starts beating into Damien as he tries to restrain her.

"Office. Both of you. Now." A voice towered over them all. It was Peter. Charlie finally stops and everyone is expressionless.

Ok, that shall do it today, it is very late and I have to get to bed so, goodnight all.

More up soon. Please review

Me


	3. penny for your thoughts

The High Life

Thanks for the reviews. I was going to wait till I got at least 3 but I couldn't help myself and I had to write another chapter.

Ok do not own Higher Ground. Some schmucks that had the nerve to cancel it did. I own all characters except Ezra, Peter and Sophie.

Chapter 3: Penny for your Thoughts

In Peters office, the three were angry. Peter because he had thought he had gotten through to these kids about fighting. Damien, well because he shouldn't have been there in the first place because all he was trying to do was defend himself. And Shane, she was always angry, there was nothing different.

"So", Peter said formally, "explanations?" The two students were silent. "Come on Damien", he urged, "By now I was hoping you were over fighting".

"I wasn't, I was defending myself", he said almost yelling, "I never touched her".

"Well, that's not the way it looked." Peter explained", as for you Charlie, we have rules here, fighting is not one of them".

"Aw and I was looking so forward to it" Charlie joked as Peter gave her a non-approving look. "So, master what are you gonna do about it?"

Without a word Peter pulled out a rope and placed in on the table.

"Oh, no, Peter, I'm not gonna be rope buddies with her. She's a psycho", Damien frowned. Charlie pulled a devilish grin making fun of his comment.

"Too bad you don't have a choice", Peter said almost enjoying this. "For the rest of the day, up until lights out, you two are gonna be rope buddies". He ties them up.

"I cant believe this" Damien complained.

"Believe it sunshine" Peter smiled, "You can go now" The two walk out angrily and close the door.

"You know, you could have just owned up", Damien said

"And miss you squirm" Charlie laughed, "No way".

Damien sighs. "Well I'm going back to my dorm to read so..."

"Oh, I was thinking food", Charlie interrupted.

"You got us into this, you put up with the consequences" he argued.

"I think being stuck with you is consequence enough", she said blandly.

"Do you want to get a book to read or do you just want to sit in my dorm and stare at all the pretty colours", Damien chose to ignore her. "Lets see theres green, dark green, grey, black..."

"I'll get a book" Charlie interrupted, "Thank you for the privelages". The two walk off fighting.

It dinner time at Mt Horizon and Charlie and Damien walk in still tied up. She tries to go over to the food but he pulls her over to his friends table.

"You still tied up" Ezra asked the obvious.

"Unfortunately" Damien said blandly

"I need food", Charlie tried to walk off but he pulls her back. They look at eachother aggressively and Charlie tries again, only to fail for the second time.

"Mind if I could have a conversation with my friends", Damien asks not at all caring what she says.

"You can" she says simply, "Once I get some food". And they finally walk over to the food.

"Do you always think about your stomach" Damien asked

"I used to. Nowadays I like to spend most of my time thinking about what it would be like to kick your ass", she answered.

"Oh hey" they heard a voice behind them. They turned around to see Cristina.

"Oh great, Princess Peg", Charlie said sarcastically. As the two love birds kiss, Charlie picks up a carrot.

"hey I;m sorry about before" Damien says finally coming up for air.

"Oh don't worry about it", Cristina said pulling him in for more.

Charlie, disgustedly bites into her carrot, with a look on her face saying 'get a room'. Finally after about another minute Charlie grabs Damien's collar with her free hand and pulls his face away from Cristina's.

"Excuse me, hi, listen um, don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the show, I really am, but you see theres a time for everything and this just happens to be the time for eating, no not eachother, food...like this" Charlie holds up her carrot, "so with that said, do you think you could find some other time to stick your tongue down her throat. Preferably tomorrow".

They look at Charlie not phased by her sarcasm and start kissing again. This time, she forcefully pulls his collar with both hands and walks off, dragging him.

"Ow, jeez", Damien feels the rope on his arm.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt you" Charlie obviously couldn't care less. Damien frustratedly shakes his head and continues walking along with Charlie.

"Guys, thankyou for all coming, it was good of you, considering this is compulsory." Peter joked", I'm sorry for the delays, I'm sure you all cared a great deal".

Group. A word that no one wanted to hear, was inevitable at Mt Horizon. As Peter made sure to say, Group is somewhere where you can open up and tell non-judgemental people your feelings. Unfortunately for him nobody believed him. Or at least they liked to think they didn't.

"Would anyone like to share there thoughts?" he asked.

"Yeah, your food here stinks", Charlie yelled out honestly.

"Anything serious?" Peter asked again, "Ok we'll get started then. Ezra...When...".

"When you mocked us you only made yourself feel small, Kat?"

"When you came I was happy, but now you're here I wish you hadn't, Cristina?"

"When you got back, I was over the moon, Patrick?"

"When I hear all this I feel very insignificant, McDonald?"

"When I think about what lies ahead for me, I feel nervous", Mac said, "Shane?"

"When I think of graduation, I feel scared, Binna?"

"When I hear the word graduation, I feel hungry", Peter gives Binna a disapproving look, "What? I get hungry, Damien?"

"When you stuck us together you only made me hate her more, Charlie?"

"When I hear all this I wanna run as far as I can and never look back".

"Take this seriously, Charlie", Peter said.

"I am, trust me", she tells him.

"Ok, would anyone care to analyze these comments?" Peter asked.

"I will", Shane said "Ezra's talking about the football game, Kat's talking about the newbie, same with the golden boy, Cristina's talking about the golden boy, Patrick feels insignificant because everyones so damn dramatic, Mac is nervous about getting outta here, Binna's hungry, newbies feeling hard done by and mines pretty self explanatory".

"The true analyzer", Peter laughs to himself, "Any comments".

"Yeah" Charlie speaks up, "I don't feel hard done by, I feel like your all a bunch of freaks and I wanna run as far away as possible from all of you".

"Charlie, no name calling", Peter tells her, "Now finishing up quickly, Ezra, I am..."

"Thankful"

"Why"

"Cos we beat those pansies" Ezra replies to Peter.

"Ok, Kat"

"Frustrated, everybody knows why", Kat said. "Cristina?"

"Excited because tomorrow I get to spend more time with Damien, Pat?"

"Sick, because of what she just said, Mac?"

"Nervous, same as before, Shane?"

"Scared, ditto, Binna?"

"hungry"

"Binna does it even matter that you just had dinner less than half an hour ago" Peter asked.

"Nope" Binna said simply.

"Ok, Damien go ahead", Peter said.

"pissed because I'm stuck with her for something I didn't do,Charlie?"

"Bored"

"Your gonna have to learn to be more serious in group Charlie. Its important", Peter said.

"Yeah I can see that", Charlie being her sarcastic self again.

"I can't believe your leaving already", Kat, Shane and Mac are in the dorms. "You;ve only been here a couple of months".

"Well, I cant be around forever", Mac said trying to keep a straight face, "We all have to leave sometime".

"But its so soon", Kat complains.

"So, mommy dearest shows up, gives you a get outta jail free card, you take it and run right", Shane says in her usual bland voice.

"Oh yeah", Mac says. As they hear people talking outside they stop talking and listen.

"You are so annoying", they hear Damien say.

"I think you should establish a good line of credit", Charlie replies. "I almost feel sorry for princess".

"You don't even know her alright, you have no idea what she's been through", he defends Cristina.

"Right", Charlie continued, "She grew up with rich parents who wanted her to be all that she could be, she couldn't take it, so she ran away, lived on the street for a week, decided she wasn't cut out to be an alleycat and came here. Poor rich princess dealing with mommy, daddy problems. My heart weeps.". She puts her hands up to her chest showing how sad she is for Cristina.

"You know you don't have to be broke to be unhappy", Damien said wisely.

"I never said that", Charlie said as they walked into the dorm. The girls try to look normal, hiding the fact that they were eaves dropping.

"Oh still tied up, huh?" Kat asked knowingly.

"Yeah". Damien replied.

Ok, that's it for today.

Please review. I'm going for 5 reviews and then I'll post the next one. Its not much so pleeeeeaaaaase!!!

me


	4. Build a BridgeThen Run

The High Life

Hello guys. So, I know I said I want at least 5 reviews before I post the next chapter but the truth is I couldn't wait any longer.

So here it is. Please review.

I don't own Higher Ground. I own the characters you don't recognize.

Chapter 4: Build a Bridge...Then Run

It was morning at Mt Horizon and Charlie had only just woken up to find the dorm empty. She got out of her bed groggily and walked to her wardrobe. Sorting through a load of clothes at the bottom she picked up a cigarette and a lighter that she had cleverly hidden under the broken base of the cupboard.

"Thank you, god", she smiled, relieved.

She hid the cigarette and lighter in her jean pocket and took off down to the path into the bush. When she got to a safe spot behind a tall tree, she slouched down reaching for the contents of her pocket. After taking a few draws she relaxed a bit.

"Michael, stop", Charlie panicked at the sound of the familiar voice. "Michael, we can't", the voice giggled.

Quietly she peeked behind the tree and was surprised to see Cristina with the boy she recognized as the messenger. She'd only seen him a few times delivering all there mail from home, but she was certain this was the guy.

"Come on, how's he going to find out", she heard Michael say.

Charlie took another drag of her cigarette before butting it out and sneaking off.

It was around 12:30 in the afternoon and since Charlie had missed breakfast she was starving. She walked in to the cafeteria, passed the other Cliffhangers and took her normal seat in the corner.

Kat had seen her come in. With a sigh, she left her table and walked over to Charlie. She was sick of trying to include Charlie but she was also not one to give up.

"So, I know what you're going to say, but do you wanna come sit with us", Kat asked cutting to the chase.

"Thanks, but I don't associate with skanks", Charlie remarked.

"Excuse me", Kat was surprised. Now the newbie was calling her a skank.

"Not you", Charlie recovered.

"Hey Kat", Cristina yelled from the other side, "Why are you even bothering..."

"Cristina", Kat told her to be quiet.

"The newbie's been here for like a week now and all she does is mope around and..."

"Shut up, Skank", Charlie snapped.

"What did you call me", Cristina tried to sound threatening.

"I called you a skank", Charlie replied not phased at all by Cristina's sudden need to be intimidating. "It's what you are, right?"

"All right, all right", a loud voice spoke over them. Peter. "Everyone, quiet", he said proving he could be scarier than either of them. "Shane, in my office, now".

"Do you really think that you're going to benefit from all this attitude", Peter asked questionably.

"I was only telling the truth", Charlie defended herself the best she could.

"Truth or not, some things, you just don't say", Peter said intelligently.

"Oh, so you agree", Charlie perked up.

"I never said that", Peter told her.

"So what are you gonna do now, tie me to a tree for a week", she joked as he looked at her, "What?"

"Tell the group to meet me in the mess hall in an hour", he said cheerfully, "We're going on a buddy hike back".

"Great", she said with fake enthusiasm. "And what the hell is that?"

"They'll tell ya", he remained a little too happy. "Until then..."

"So what is a buddy hike back?" Charlie asked her female group mates.

"Well, Peter takes us on a long journey to a secluded setting, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, ties us together in pairs and drops us off to find our own way back", Shane replied.

"Sounds fun", Charlie returned the sarcasm.

"So, what was with you and Cristina before", Mac asked curiously.

"I don't like her", Charlie said simply. She didn't want to give too much away. If she talked too much, these girls might think that she was actually capable of holding a conversation. She didn't want that.

"Look, Charlie", Kat spoke up, "I know this is hard for you, believe me, it was hard for everyone when they first got here. But this is small place. I don't like Cristina much either but you've just got to learn to get along with her".

"I don't have to do anything", Charlie told her, "And as for Cristina, she deserves everything she gets".

"Did she do something to you to make you hate her so much", Kat asked.

"Just being near me is enough".

It was particularly hot on this Tuesday afternoon and the Cliffhangers were struggling to hike through the rugged mountains. Peter had already dumped all the Cliffhangers in there random places. Ezra and Mac were the first ones to be left alone. They'd been hiking back all day and knew that the others would be hot on there trail.

"You think we're going the right way", Ezra asked Mac.

"We better be", she replied. "I'm so tired".

"Well let's rest a bit", Ezra suggested. With that said Mac fell to the ground without any warning.

"I feel dead", Mac complained

"My legs are like Jell-O", Ezra said.

"How far do you think we've come", Mac asked.

"We've been walking for hours".

A couple of miles from the two, a ravenous Kat and Binna, were sitting down to eat.

"So what do you think of the new girl", Kat asked curiously.

"Charlie?" Binna said, "I don't know, I haven't really talked to her. She seems tough".

"Yeah, she's pretty complicated but I think it's all an act, you know, I mean I think she's really scared".

"Well if anyone should find out, it'd be you", Binna said

"This is so retarded", Cristina complained.

"Speaking of..."Charlie remarked.

"You were the one that got us into this", Cristina told her.

"Really?" Charlie asked sarcastically, "I hadn't realized".

"Sarcasm again", Cristina hated this. "You know sometimes I think you talk just to make sounds".

"Hmm", Charlie pretends to think, "You know I think I do". She smiles sarcastically.

"You are so annoying", she continues.

"Yeah, and your pathetic, you can guess which one I would rather be", Charlie is enjoying every minute of this.

"Your jealous of me, aren't you", Cristina asks as if she thinks it's true.

"Oh, you caught me, all I've ever wanted to be was a skank", Charlie said.

"I am not a skank, all right", Cristina defends herself, "If anybody is, you are. Damien is the only one for me".

"Hmm, I guess now all you gotta do is tell Michael". With that Cristina stops in her tracks, staring straight at Charlie who smirks.

"Ladies, ladies, please, ok, nobody is a skank", Patrick finally cut in, "I've been listening to you girls bicker for hours, you could talk the head of a monkey, but your annoying the Shiite out of me, so just, leave it out, alright."

Charlie smiles at Cristina and walks on.

Not far away from them were Damien and Shane.

"I can't believe Peter's making us do this. All because the newbie has an attitude problem", Damien said

"Oh come on, don't your remember when your first came here", Charlie said

"I was not as bad as her", he told her.

"Some people might say you were worse".

"You weren't even here when I showed up", he said

"I hear stuff", she said simply.

"Yeah, I know", he smiled.

It was the end of the day and all the Cliffhangers were together walking back to Horizon.

"So, Damien, Charlie, the lucky last", Peter remarked.

"What do you want from us", Charlie asked lousily.

"I don't want anything from you", Peter said a little two nicely, "It wasn't your fault you're slow".

"Well, thank you", Charlie expressed.

"Hey, what's that over there?" Binna pointed to an old bridge that from the looks of it needed to be taken down.

"Oh, that's a bridge", Peter said simply.

Ezra smiled at Peter's lameness. "That's historic. In my opinion it should be knocked down but Hannah felt it was a part of Horizon".

"Who's Hannah?"

"Oh, she was a supervisor here" Ezra told him.

"Well, come on, lets go test it out", Binna said excitedly running over to the old bridge.

"It's a bridge, not a new ride at Disneyland", Charlie remarked.

"Uh, Binna, its condemned, trust me, I fell off it once", Ezra pointed out.

"Its fine", Binna argued, "I'll be careful". The group ran over to the bridge, Binna had already stepped on the planks.

"Please, Binna, listen to Ezra, you could be seriously injured", Peter grew concerned. "If you don't come back right now, I'll have you on kitchens for a month".

"Ok, ok, spoil my fun", Binna said.

"Fun?" Charlie said, "Man, I think you've been out here too long. It's not fun, it's a bridge". Binna was back on to safe ground and walking with the group.

"I told you I'd be fine", he remarked.

"Maybe I should have let you stay there", Ezra laughed, "Maybe the fall would knock some sense into you". He gave Binna, what he thought was a little shove. But Binna fell backwards into the stream.

"Oh shit," Patrick exclaimed.

"I didn't think I..." Ezra was shocked. He didn't think he was that strong.

"Can he swim", Charlie asked as she was generally worried for Binna.

"Binna, Binna, Peter, what do we do", Kat screamed hysterically.

"We'll try to get him out by rope", Peter said, "The currents to strong to go in there as well".

Without a second thought Charlie was in the water. She was a good swimmer and she didn't want to leave all the work to the rope.

"Charlie", Kat screamed, "Oh, Peter hurry".

Charlie caught up with Binna pretty quickly, just as he was sliding under the water. She pulled him up from the waist and made sure his mouth wasn't under water.

"She's got him, she's got him, its ok", Shane was trying to calm Kat down. She knew Kat and Binna were very close.

Peter acted quickly with the rope. He swung it out into the river a few meters in front of the two forcefully coming toward it.

It seemed as if Binna was unconscious. Charlie was carrying all of his weight on her and you could tell it was weighing her down.

The rope was coming up. She reached for it as fast as she could.

"Got ya", she thought thankfully as she had it in her hand.

It's ok, its gonna be ok", Shane kept on.

"Ok, Charlie, I'm going to slide the rope up to the bank alright, I need you to help me", Peter yelled, "You need to swim across otherwise the currents going to be too strong".

As he pulled, Charlie swam and eventually they got to the side of the bank. She let go of the rope and dragged Binna up to land. She let go of him, losing all her energy and falling to the ground with him. The group run to Binna as Charlie looks on huffing.

"God, is he alright, Peter", Kat asked crying.

Peter acted quickly and pumped his stomach. Within a few minutes Binna was coughing, almost choking on all the water coming out of his mouth. He sat up, breathing heavily. Kat hugged him. Charlie looked at the group all surrounding Binna. They really would have missed him if anything had happened. She kept staring in disbelief. This was the first time she felt she wanted to be a part of them. It was the first time she wanted to feel needed. She'd never had that before in her life. She was always a burden in her dad's life. Her mom loved her, she knew that, but she could barely remember her. She died when she was so young. Then when she ran away to her best friend's house, she knew they didn't want her there. They were only trying to be nice. And that's when everything happened. She shuddered at the thought of it all. She looked at Damien. She could never tell anyone here about her past. Especially him. Feeling alone and unnoticed, she stood up and walked off. She knew all of it was her fault. The Cliffhangers were very accepting but she'd screwed that up by not accepting them. She felt a tear slide from her eye. She wiped her eye quickly making sure no more would come. She hated crying.

Later that night Charlie was in the mess hall. She hated being in her dorm right now. Everyone was out doing chores or something and she felt so alone. In the mess hall there was lots of noise. Even if no one was talking to her she still liked the sound of chatter.

"Hi", a voice said. It was Patrick.

"Hi", she replied. Now she didn't know what to do. She wanted so much to be friends with these guys but she knew that if she let her guard down they'd want to get to know her. They'd want to know everything about her past.

"Good book?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah, it's ok". There. She was answering his questions so she wasn't being mean, but then she wasn't being exactly nice either.

"Come on, lighten up", Patrick pushed, "Your gonna be here for a while, so you might as well talk to somebody, even if it is little old me". He was right. She couldn't do this forever.

"How long have you been over from Ireland", she asked thinking it was a safe subject.

"Oh, about 4 years now", he said simply then waited a minute before he started a new sentence. "How about you, have you always lived in Canada?"

"No", she said, "Well, I mean it kind of varied, where I lived; um I was actually born in Ireland myself".

"Really?" he was shocked. "I would've never guessed".

"Guess the accents changed a bit", Charlie said, "I moved over to the states when I was 5 and from there on I kind of lived everywhere. California to Saskatchewan, I've lived everywhere." She repeated. She was nervous. He was one of the first people she's ever told about her life, even if it was just a snippet.

"So, I guess you don't really remember it then. Ireland, I mean?"

"I remember bits. I mean I was young but, it was the only place I ever really felt safe. It was the only place I ever really fit in", she said. She could have kicked herself for saying that. She was giving too much away.

"You don't fit in anywhere", Patrick said with sudden knowledge. "It's in your head". Charlie hadn't seen this side of Patrick yet. It was like she could talk to him about almost anything.

"Yeah", Charlie stared down at the floor. "yeah".

Kitchen duty. Like group it was another thing that the Cliffhangers hated. And tonight, it just so happened to be Charlie and Binna's turn. Charlie washed as Binna dried.

"Hey, uh thanks for what you did today", Binna said.

"Anybody would have done it", she said modestly.

"Nobody else did. You know you gotta give yourself more credit".

"You guys are so summer camp", she shook her head. Her defenses were obviously up again.

"When are you gonna accept it?" he asked suddenly getting agitated.

"I did the second I got in here", she remarked.

"I meant when are you gonna accept the fact that you're here and there's nothing you can do about it?" Binna repeated.

"Oh, there is something I can do about it", she said dryly.

"What's that? Run? What get so high that Peter will send you to juvie? I bet you'll love it there", he knew this had to be said.

"You know what? Maybe I will. At least they wont be a bunch of pretentious morons that are so caught up in this Mt Horizon thing that they cant see what's really there", she said in a sudden outburst. She was now trying to make herself believe what she had just said.

"Maybe you can't see what's really there", Binna said. "You know, aside from a few, Peter has helped every one of these students and if you would just stop being so defensive, maybe he could help you too".

"Yeah, and who paid you to say that?" she said.

"Let's just get the dishes done alright", he said finally giving up.

Charlie knew he was right, about everything. She just couldn't let her defenses down. She was afraid it would turn out worse.

Finally it was dinner time and in just a couple of hours, this exhausting day would be over. As usual Charlie sat in her usual seat in the corner of the room. What she didn't expect was Ezra and Damien to walk over in her direction.

"Hail to the heroine", Ezra said smiling like his true geeky self.

"No seriously, we really should thank you", Damien said a little more toned down than Ezra.

Charlie could not believe this place. She stares at them for at least a minute almost in disgust. She'd never taken compliments well and she wasn't going to start now. It was almost as if Peter had come to every single one of them and asked them to thank her. In a way she hoped he had. She thought they couldn't be bigger suck ups.

"I can't believe this place", she said finally getting up and leaving the hall. Ezra and Damien just look at each other and shrug walking back to the table.

"You try to be nice", Damien said simply.


	5. Peaches and Cream

The High Life

Hey guys, back again. Thanks for the fantastic reviews. I probably wouldn't keep going with this story without them. But please, I want more. Call me greedy but more than 2 a chapter would be great!

A couple of quotes from Higher Ground are used in this chapter.

I own any characters you don't recognize.

Chapter 5: Peaches and Cream

It was 6pm and the sun was just starting to set over the famous Horizon. Peter was walking back to his office after a hectic day. It was quite a frosty night, nothing out of the ordinary for the high hills of Vancouver. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a person on the soccer field. It was Charlie. He was amazed at how good she was.

"What?" H e realized that she was talking to him.

"Group in 5 all right", Peter said finally. He didn't know how he could get through to Charlie. He knew that she'd be a tough one to crack but he hadn't bargained on this.

"Yeah, whatever", Charlie sounded disinterested as usual and Peter left.

Charlie looked back and through the ball with rage in the opposite direction.

Within 10 minutes the group was crowded around in the mess hall waiting for Peter to get on his high horse and throw a speech.

"So guys, tonight's group is gonna be a little different. Nobody's going to have to share there feelings at all..."

"Peter, what are you talking about", Ezra interrupted.

"Who's up for a game of football?" he said grabbing the ball.

"Football?" Binna wasn't convinced, "All right what's the catch?"

"No catch", Peter said simply, "It's purely for your entertainment". As the group cheered he glimpsed at Charlie who knew exactly what was going on. And she didn't like it.

"Forgive me Peter if I don't share there enthusiasm", Charlie said blandly.

"Oh come on, Charlie", Peter said, "Little football never hurt anyone".

"I'm guessing this is compulsory", she said

"No, it's not compulsory, but whoever refuses is on kitchens for a month", Peter joked. She screwed her face up at his lame attempt at a joke.

"So, teams, Damien, it would be a sin for me not to appoint you captain of the red team, and uh... Charlie, since you're so keen on joining us, what about you for the blue team?"

"You're kidding me right?" Charlie blurted, "I don't even want to play".

"Tough, guys, choose your teams".

After many arguments and annoyance the teams were chosen and they were on the field. Charlie, Kat, Patrick, Shane and Binna were against Damien, Ezra, Cristina, Mac and Peter. They were coming to the end of the game and it was a close tie.

"Ok, so what are gonna do", Ezra asked.

"I don't know, just give the ball to me whenever you can", Damien simply replied. The teams got into there positions.

"I'm gonna beat you so bad", he told Charlie.

"What? You want me to come back with some cheap comment about how I'm gonna beat your ass?" Charlie was almost laughing at his competitiveness, "Sorry, I just don't care that much".

The whistle blows and the game is going well. Mac has the ball but as she throws it to Ezra, Patrick grabs it and passes it down until they get a goal.

At the end of the game, Damien's team has one by 2 goals.

"Told you I'll beat ya", Damien said to Charlie.

"Well jeez, I just don't know how I'm going to be able to get on with life now", Charlie walks off as Patrick laughs at her sarcasm.

"Hey, wait up", Damien says unexpectedly. She jerks back and looks at him.

"What?" she was getting agitated?

"Where'd you learn all that, you were pretty good out there", he said

"I learn from the best", she replied.

"Well, who?"

"You wouldn't know him", she stated. "Look, I gotta catch up on some reading, your ditzy girlfriends over there looking a bit green; you might want to rescue her from looking like a loner".

"What do you have against her huh? I mean what has she ever done to you?" Damien asked.

"Nothing besides breathing", she retorted.

"You shouldn't pay her out so much, she's not as strong as most people".

"Well, that's what you get when you've held a silver spoon in your mouth for that long, I guess", Charlie was getting impatient.

"What so you hate people with money, is that it?"

"No, I hate people who use there money to get what they want", Charlie corrected him.

"When has she ever done that?" Damien asked.

"Of course you wouldn't realize it, because you do it too".

"What? I don't..."

"You use the fact that your so popular and everybody loves you to get you want"

"And you don't? Your always going on about how hard done by you is and how you're so much worse off then us", Damien was getting fired up.

"Hey, I don't use that, that's just my reality which I have to deal with".

"Well it's not my reality, so you don't have to keep forcing it down my throat"

"You don't have a reality. You have Cristina, football captain takes the prom queen, that's fantasy land", Charlie said hotly

"You don't even know what you're talking about", Damien turns away.

"I know a lot more than you think", she turns to leave in the opposite direction. Before she leaves she back steps.

"Oh, and speaking of reality, did you know Cristina's crushing on the mail boy. I saw them kissing. Peaches and cream with salsa on the top. Your reality sucks doesn't it?" He walks off angrily as she just smiles.

Lauren sits in the mess hall as Damien comes in hot tempered.

"Is it true?" he says angrily.

"Is what true?" Cristina is clueless.

"You and the mail boy. Is it true?"

"Who told you this?"

"So it is?"

"Yes it is, Damien. You were gone for three weeks, Michael was there for me. Where were you? Oh, right, I forgot, where not allowed to talk about you. It's like a big secret. I know nothing about you Damien. I don't even know why you're here. You didn't trust me enough to tell me".

Damien stands there not knowing what to say. "Look I got to go, Peter wants to talk to me", Lauren said.

"So that's it then?"

"What else is there to discuss? You've never been in this thing Damien, you were just there because you had nothing better to do", Lauren picked up her things and left. Damien sits down, stunned and annoyed. Everything she had just said was in some ways true. But was that a reason for her to cheat? He didn't know. Standing at the doorway was Charlie. He hadn't realized she was there until she sat down across from him. The two said nothing and for a while they sat in silence.

"Look, I'm sorry, alright", she said finally.

"About what?"

"You know what", she continued.

"Well, there are so many things you could be sorry for; I'm still not sure which one".

"Forget it", she says shaking her head in a 'should have known' kind of way.

"You don't...have to be sorry", He spoke up again, "It wasn't your fault, don't kill the messenger right".

"Right", Charlie said, "I mean, you know, with the exception of the mail boy". He laughs at her lame joke and they sit there in silence all the while comforting each other

Hope you liked it. Back again soon. Keep the reviews coming.

Next chapter, Charlie is bonding and getting along with all her peers. She and Damien have an unexpected moment and the group throw a party for Mac. Also there's a new admit.


	6. Tragedy in your Blood

The High Life

Hey, guys. Well, it's been about a week since I last posted. Consider yourself lucky. I just can't help it. Loving the reviews. They're great. Thanx.

I own everyone you don't recognize. Blah, blah, blah.

Chapter 6.....Tragedy In Your Blood

Sitting in the mess hall with nothing much to do was a common thing for the kids at Horizon. Kat and the group were no exception.

"All right, we should have a party", she said out of the blue.

"Ah, sure cos we know Peter and he would just love that", Shane said in her usual sarcastic tone.

"Mac's leaving on Friday", Kat told her, "We should do something".

"I really doubt that Peters gonna go for it, I mean, come on, everything that makes a party fun. We can't do it", Mac said matter of factly.

"She's right, you know", Charlie begun, "No drinking, no dates, Peter's probably even got some kind of rule for dancing".

The girls chatter as the guys watch in awe of how much crap they can actually say in one sentence. As Charlie walks in the room goes silent.

"I'm sorry, I'll go", Charlie wasn't in the mood for causing trouble.

"No, no, stay", Kat assured her. "We could use your expertise".

"What?" Charlie asked in a non-tone kind of way.

"We want to have a going away party for Mac", Kat informed her.

"A party? Here?" Charlie was quite amused. "You guys are crazy".

"Thank you", Mac agreed. "I'm telling you when you have a party, you need alcohol, I don't know about the rest of you, but I need a packet of cigarettes, not to mention guys...

"Oh and what are we?" Patrick said, he's Irish accent coming out clear, "A couple of dimwitted fairies?"

"I mean, guys we haven't met," Mac pointed out.

"You're serious? You're seriously telling me, you can't have fun without a beer, a packet of cigarettes and some dexter feeling you up", Charlie said.

"Hey, what happened to the whole party being crazy thing?" Shane asked.

"It is crazy, because this place is like summer camp for delinquents", Charlie explained, "It's not exactly a place to get your groove on". She used her hands to demonstrate her sarcastic interpretation of "grooving".

"Well, guys, if we can convince Peter, are you up for it?" Kat asked everyone.

Everybody agreed that it would be a nice change to have a party, or at least Peter's idea of a party. The group starting converging in there own separate conversations until Peter came in.

It took Kat no hesitation to ask peter straight out.

"You serious, Peter, your gonna let us have a going away party for Mac?"

"Yep, but its not going to be completely what you expect. First of all, everyone comes, Red backs, Trackers, everyone".

"Blah, blah, blah" Cristina shrugs him off, "I think the real question we wanna know is if we get to have dates".

"Yes", Peter answers simply.

"Yes?" Cristina wasn't sure if she heard right.

"Yes. But I will choose them".

"Oh Peter come on, do you have to turn everything in to a group session", Binna complained.

"Binna and Mac, your our first couple", Peter continued. "Patrick and Kat, number two. Uh...Cristina and... Ezra..."

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding, I'm stuck with that leach", Cristina complained.

"I think E.Z would be more worried about being stuck with a skank", Damien said half joking, half not. Charlie laughed as Peter just looks at her.

"You two", Peter pointed at her and Damien.

Cristina laughs, "Looks like ya got the other one, huh Damo'?"

"Shut up skank", Charlie snapped.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll cripple you", Charlie said with a merciless look.

"Wait a minute, what about me", Shane asked.

"It just so happens that we have a new admit coming tomorrow, just in time for the party", Peter explained.

"What's his name", Shane asked.

"Ryder Silverton. He's from London. I'll let him tell you the rest", Peter replied, "I'll leave you to it". Peter leaves.

"An accent", Kat says.

"An English accent", Mac repeats.

"English accents are definitely the coolest", Cristina says.

The girls are obviously excited.

"D'ya know what? I beg to differ", Patrick speaks up.

"Oh Pat, your no longer the guy with the cool accent", Shane teases.

"Oi, I'll have you know, the Irish accent, is much more interesting, than any English git. I am still a very cool guy, this guy, however, could turn out to be a complete and utter pratt. And besides, we don't know him, everyone who's new acts like a complete pain in the arse", as Pat rants people start to leave. "Look at Charlie here. Until a couple of weeks ago she a was a bitch, no offence, Charlie"

"None taken", Charlie said simply.

"Now she's changed a bit but this twat could actually be, a complete twat, don't you guys agree", Patrick turns around to an empty room. Charlie who is amused by the whole thing is still there.

"Yep the interest level was just, overwhelming", she laughs.

The next day, while most kids were probably getting ready to party, Charlie sat in the mess hall by herself reading. Damien comes in with sweat pouring off of him, huffing out of breath.

"Jeez, don't dir on me boy", Charlie jokes.

"I wouldn't leave you in that situation", Damien grins with cheek. She smiles back.

"You know, you should do that more often".

"What?" she is confused.

"Smile. People wouldn't know what to think"

"You forget. I don't care what people think", she corrects him.

"Yeah, you do", he argues

"No I don't"

"You know this wall that you put up around yourself. People here can see right through it", he informs her.

"Really?" she stands up challenging him.

"Really", he challenges her back, meeting her eyes. All of a sudden he notices that they are quite close.

"So tell me, what do you see?" Charlie says. She feels uncomfortable but she won't let on.

"I see you", damn it if she won't let on, neither will he. Charlie is taken a back.

"And?"

"And your scared", he keeps it up.

"Of what", they are so close now, that she can feel his breath on her face.

"I don't know yet", Damien's face softens and the two let on that they realize what's going on. Before Damien can say anything Charlie hardens up again.

"The wall seems to be working", and with that she walks off leaving him stunned.

The party was exactly what everybody expected. Fun in parts, but still ruled over by Peter's over protective eyes. It was still early when Charlie and Damien got there. There were people dancing, the food was average and the music wasn't too bad.

"Well this is just a laugh a minute", Charlie remarked.

"The party's barely even started yet, the rest of the groups not even here", Damien pointed out.

Charlie and Damien look in opposite directions, doing everything to avoid each others eyes.

"Hey guys", Mac was standing behind them with Binna.

"So this is it", Binna scoffed.

"Yeah, its really happening man, this party rocks", Charlie sarcastically put on the most up beat voice she could, "I'm gonna go get high on sugar". She walks to the food where she can see a stack of jelly babies.

"Isn't she hopeful", Damien said following her sarcasm. At the same time Shane arrives with the new admit.

"Hey guys", Shane said, obviously not in the mood for partying, "This is Ryder, the creep from London". She walks off leaving the newbie standing there.

He was tall, with jet black hair. He looked very upper class.

"Hello, lads, ladies, Ryder's the name", he said with every bit of confidence. The group greeted him.

"I'm Mac, this is Binna and Damien", Mac introduced him.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mac", he said, like he had specifically made it sound like he was only pleased to meet her. Not the boys.

Charlie comes back with a handful of jujubes.

"So where is this English git anyway? I just saw Charlie", she said not seeing Ryder. "Hmm...so I'm guessing you're him. Oh damn", she says insincerely. With that she walks off again stuffing her face.

"Well, that was charming", Ryder announced.

"Charlie", Damien informed him, "She's a newbie, she came about a month ago, and nobody's been able to crack her yet".

"Hey guys", Kat walks up behind them with Patrick.

"You must be Ryder", Patrick said looking him up and down.

"A fellow UKer, Ireland right?"

"Born and bred", Patrick told him.

"I'm sure we'll get along fantastically, Patty, now where was that scrumptious date of mine", Ryder said leaving as the others cringed at his confidence.

"Is that guy for real", Binna said.

"Did you here how he said, pleasure to meet you, Mac", Damien said using a fake British accent, "Like we weren't even there".

"Forget that", Patrick complained, "he called me Patty".

"We always call you Patty", Mac remarked.

"Well that's not the point is it", Patrick continued, "that guy is an English twat and he should not have the right to call me Patty".

Mac rolls her eyes as Charlie comes back for the third time.

"So, what I miss", she stuffed a jujube in her mouth.

"I told you this would happen didn't I", Patrick said.

"So a lot?"

"I knew it, it happens all the time. It's just how it goes; you can't have two lads from the UK in the same school. One of them always tries to be better than the other and he turns out to be a prat", Patrick said. Ezra and Cristina walk in.

"Where is he", Cristina said excitedly.

"Who?" Mac said acting like she didn't know what she was talking about.

"Uh, Ryder"

"His probably brushing up on his makeup", Patrick commented.

"What? I don't get it", Cristina was confused.

"The guys an ass", Charlie pointed out.

"I bet he's fine, your just not educated enough to understand him", Cristina said.

"Yep", Mac laughs, "that's definitely it"

"Why don't you go over there and see for yourself", Kat points to Ryder and Cristina is off.

"Honey, wait up", Ezra taunts looking back at the group with a cheeky grin.

"10 bucks by the end of the night Cristina will have in a headlock", Charlie betted.

"Come on Pat", Kat urged, "Let's go tear this place up". He smiles and they walk off. Binna holds his hand out gesturing for Mac to join him on the dance floor. She smiles and they go, leaving an uncomfortable Damien and Charlie. They stand, awkwardly silent, neither of them knowing what to do next.

"Oh god", Charlie finally speaks, "Lets just go dance".

"Since you seem so happy about it", Damien leads off.

Now they are closer and both wonder if they were better just stand there and do nothing.

"I'm gonna go get a drink", Charlie breaks the silence for the second time.

Later the party is in full swing. There doesn't seem to be a lot of enjoyment going on. The group sits watching the happenings of the night.

"So, no offence Mac, but your party sucks", Shane points out.

"Oh come on, it wasn't all that bad. I got to meat the ladies, the ladies got to meat me", Ryder said in a sleazy voice.

"What are you doing here anyway?" Charlie asks, "Community service for stealing your dad's Ferrari?"

"Actually, I caused a little trouble for my dad, you see he was having an affair with the maid and well him being such a public figure back in Britain, I thought it'd be a right laugh to tell the authorities, see him squirm a little".

"I think stealing the Ferrari would have been better", Mac said.

"So, poor little rich boy got tired of being second place to his fathers mistress so you set out to destroy him. That's why you're here? Man, that's pathetic, have you met princess peg yet", Charlie muses.

"Princess Peg, now which one was that", Ryder asks.

"Cristina, the skinny one?" Kat said.

"Oh, that one, yes lovely girl, from the neck down", Ryder said as the others cringed at his need to be such a pig.

"You're pretty insecure aren't you?" Charlie asked. "I mean under all that...fake self assurance."

"Why don't you help me, I know just thing to help me get more confidence", Ryder said in his sleazy voice again.

"I'm sorry, your not my species", Charlie said.

"I think your into me more than you want to admit", Ryder told her.

"Oh god, you caught me, our high self assurance is really turning me on. Excuse me I'm gonna go get some jujubes, try calm myself down a bit", Charlie left the table. As she walks over to the sweets, Peter looks at Damien, giving him a "get over there with your date" look.

"Well, that's my call", Damien leaves and goes to Charlie who, again is stuffing her face.

"Careful there, you might get another addiction", Damien joked.

"Wouldn't wanna get crazed on jujubes now would I?" Charlie retorted back. As she looks at him she couldn't help but stare. He catches on that she's staring and the two find themselves making eye contact.

"Uh..." Charlie breaks it off, "So this is uh...boring".

"Yeah, yep, pretty boring", he said awkwardly.

"But, you know it's had its highlights", Charlie began.

"Yeah, you giving Sparkly Silverton over there a run for his money, which was definitely humorous", Damien agreed as she looked over her shoulder at Ryder. She turns her head back spotting someone she recognizes. It looks like he's spotted her too.

"Um, let's uh, go outside", she said. Damien couldn't help but notice that she sounded worried.

"Sure", he follows her out. They sit down on a bench outside. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, yeah, its fine", she said not convincing him. But he wasn't going to push her.

They sit in silence, the feeling of awkwardness and them being alone together came back again. For Charlie, she was more worried about the guy she had just seen. She was scared.

Damien looked at her; she gave the best smile she could do.

"How could he be here", she whispered not realizing she had said it out loud.

"What?" Damien didn't hear her.

"Um...it's cold out here", she said hoping that would cover it up.

"Oh, you could use my jacket if you want, here", he takes off his jacket and crouches down in front of her pulling the jacket around her. She smiles at his generosity.

"Thanks", she whispers. He is still on the ground in front of her. He looks up, seeing a vulnerable side of her, he hasn't seen before.

She looks down at him. Without hesitation he reaches up and kisses her. To her surprise she kisses him back. He sits back on the seat not breaking the kiss.

"I'm sorry", he says suddenly, and walks away, leaving her confused and scared.

"Well, well, well, Charlottes got a little boyfriend, does she?" she hears a guy say from behind. She knows who it is. She doesn't turn around. Instead, she sits there frozen.

"What not talking to your ol' pal Brian?"

"You can't hurt me", she whispers not turning around to show a tear forming in her eye. He smiles.

"You owe me", he whispers in her ear.

"I got caught, I couldn't do it", she told him clearly.

"And now where back together again", he says sleazily, reaching her face. He kisses her cheek and she cringes. "Isn't it funny how life works out"? She can't hold back her tears any longer.

"Now where shall we meet tonight", he says.

"I'm not meeting you", she cries softly.

He grabs her chin and holds it as if he's about to choke her.

"You'll do what I tell you to. You know why. Because I own you", he lets go of her chin and touches her face. "Why are you playing so hard to get, you know how this is gonna turn out. I could kill you", he says softly.

"The docks, at 1", she says hesitantly.

"The docks it is. See you Charlotte", he kisses her cheek again and walks off. After his gone she cups her face in her hands and cries. Harder than ever. How did he know she was here? And how did he get in here? She thought this place would be safe, free of all the street scum she had to deal with back in California.

The party is over and now Kat and Mac have to clean up. The last song is playing. Brick by Ben Folds Five. Mac was slightly disappointed that the party wasn't a huge success but she was still grateful that Kat and the others tried.

Kat was happy with it. She knew that Peter wouldn't have gone for anything bigger.

Binna, Patrick and Ezra had gone to sleep already. Across the room from them, Ryder was unpacking his things. He liked this place. The people were real, not pretentious like all the people he had to put up with back at home.

Getting ready to also go to bed was Cristina. She was exhausted. She was probably the only one who had a lot of fun tonight. She had been dancing with the girls in the Trackers all night.

Walking up the path to the cabins was Shane. On her way she saw someone sitting on the bench. It was Damien.

"Hey, Damien, lights out in 5", she yelled. He gave her a smile and she walked off.

Damien felt embarrassed about the earlier event. He knew he shouldn't have kissed Charlie but he couldn't help it. She was sitting there so quietly and he'd wanted to kiss her for a while. He just couldn't deny it anymore.

With a sad face, Charlie walked quietly to the dock where Brian was waiting. She had nothing more to do. She couldn't tell anyone. She was out of answers. She sat down next to him.

"Oh you made it", Brian said calmly. She nodded as he unbuttoned her shirt.

'I hate this', she thought.

Yeah that was kind of crap. Review and tell me what you think

Coming up: How does Charlie handle Brian? How does Charlie handle Damien? When will I stop asking questions I already know? You'll find out, next Chapter.


	7. Pain, Torment andLove?

The High Life

Chapter 7: Pain, Torment and....Love?

The morning after the party was all a bit of a blur for a lot of the students at Horizon. Most people were awake and in the mess hall, talking about the events of the night. In the Cliffhanger girl's dorm, Charlie was still asleep. As Kat came out of the shower, her towel pulled over her head, she realized the time.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," Kat whispered as she shook Charlie's bed.

"What time is it?" Charlie groaned sleepily.

"Its 11am", Kat said hurriedly, swooping up the mess that was on her bed. "Come on, breakfast is in 20 minutes and Peter's already postponed it so we could sleep in".

"Oh, what a doll", Charlie's first dose of sarcasm was coming early this morning.

"So, I heard you get in pretty late last night", Kat said.

"Oh I uh, went for a walk", Charlie said quickly. She couldn't bare the thought of anyone finding out what happened last night at the docks. She wished she could tell someone but no one would understand, even if she was in a school where understanding was its motto. She got up and grabbed some clothes from her closet before going into the bathroom.

"Hey, where's Shane?" Charlie said poking her head out of the bathroom door. "She's always the last one to awake".

"Oh, Shane's on shuns for the day for knocking Ryder out last night", Kat replied simply like she always expected it to occur.

"Go Shane", Charlie laughed.

"So, Charlie's on shuns, huh?" Patrick asked even though he already knew.

"Yep", Mac replied. "Apparently she knocked Ryder out cold". Charlie comes in, smiling at the thought of Shane hitting Ryder. She catches Damien's eye as she puts her tray down.

"Uh, I'm gonna go get some juice", Shane said keeping her eyes on Damien, subtlety gesturing for him to come too.

"Uh, I'm gonna get some fries, they're really good this morning", he said, getting up after her.

"I'm beginning to think you got drunk last night and it hasn't worn off yet, nothing in this cafeteria tastes good", Ezra remarked as the two Cliffhangers walked off together.

"So, I'm sorry about last night, what I did, it was really wrong, I don't know what happened there, maybe it was the night, I don't know, but I'm..."

"You're babbling", Charlie chuckles nervously, finishing of his question. Damien gives a nervous chuckle.

"Look, its fine, really, I mean, when you kissed me, I could have decked you, but I didn't, but if you ever do that again, I will", Charlie said.

"Cool", he said, a little intimidated. They walk back to the table.

"Oh, that was so funny", Mac laughed.

"What's funny?" Damien asked.

"Oh we were just talking about last night when Amy Scrivens slipped over on that spilt punch and slid all the way to the other side of the room", Mac explained.

"I wasn't there for that", Damien said. "It sounds funny".

"Oh it was, you should have been there", Patrick hysterically with the others as Ryder walked into the room. He had a bandage across his nose and a bit of a bruise surrounding it.

"Hello, fabulous youth of America", he said in his cocky tone.

"Hey, cheap import", Charlie said as the group smiled at her joke.

"So, how's your nose, lad?" Patrick asked trying hard not to laugh.

"My nose is fine. It's that Shane that needs some attention", Ryder tensed up.

"Peter made her take anger management classes once, but she didn't care for it. She actually punched the guy out so Peter thought he should deal with it himself and had her removed", Ezra said.

"Well, I think it'd be in everyone's best interest if you put her back in", Ryder said, then walked away with his pride and his nose in the air.

"What a wanker", Charlie exclaimed.

"He's a twat, there are places for him, I'm sure of it", Patrick said.

"The army would sort him out", Mac suggested.

"How bout a lions play pen", Ezra said imaginatively.

"The morgue", Charlie said blandly. The group looked at her.

"Morbid, much?" Cristina said.

"Eat, much?" Charlie shot back quickly.

Its night time and Charlie and Brian are finishing up at the dock. Charlie has been crying.

"So, I'll see ya tomorrow, ok?" Brian touches her face. "Ok?"

"Ok", she says softly

"There's my girl", he grabs his jacket and leaves. Charlie plumps down on the spot and buries her head in her hands, crying uncontrollably. Why was this happening again? What had she done that was so wrong to deserve all of this? She had no answers. Suddenly a raging fit came over. She ran back in to her dorm, into the bathroom and closed the door. Tears fill the floor as she opens her bag, to find her pocket mirror. She takes it and smashes it against the sink. She takes a small piece and holds it to her arm.

In the morning Charlie is still on the ground in the bathroom. She hasn't slept. She whimpers silently. Beside her is the dried bloodied glass that she had so forcefully used the night before.

Suddenly the door swings open and Kat bursts in. At first she stands there shocked.

"Oh god, Oh god, Charlie what did you do", she says reacting quickly getting some bandages. "Why would you do this?"

"Just go away, please", Charlie cried.

"No, I'm not gonna go away, look what you did to yourself", Kat wraps the bandage around her arm, "I'm gonna go get Peter". She turns to leave.

"No, please, no," Charlie stands up. "Please, I'm fine, I wont do it again, please just don't get Peter."

"I can't believe your gonna make me do this", Kat said giving in easily. "Charlie you're sick, you need help".

"Please, Kat, I'm not gonna do it again, I'm not".

"Ok, ok", she says defeated.

"Thank you," Charlie cries relieved.

"Yeah I saw her going out at like, one o'clock in the morning", Shane gossiped.

"Maybe she has a lover", Mac said with emphases on the 'lover'.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Kat greets them, as her and Charlie sit down.

"Speak of the devil", Mac said.

"What?" Charlie said.

"The girls here think ya got a fellow", Patrick informed her.

"Oh yeah, I just keep him under my bed until I want to use him" Charlie jokes. At that moment Cristina makes her entrance.

"Oh my god, Ryder is such a jerk", she said.

"Uh yeah", Patrick replied.

"So, this morning, I was making him feel a little more welcome, you know, being a little flirty, and he takes it as a come on, I mean, how gross", Cristina explains. The group just stares at her, all wondering what that big bulge in her head is as they realize it can't be her brain.

"You really are a useless individual aren't you", Charlie told her. "Maybe you should stay away from fancy imports, you know, date domestically".

After lunch the group was asked to pick cherries off trees.

"So, tell me again, Soph, why is Peter making us do this?" Binna asked.

"Because he enjoys seeing us suffer", Shane answered.

"Not so, Miss Jacobz", Sophie said.

"Then why?" Mac asked for her.

"Team work", Sophie said simply.

"So make us play a sport or something, why are we picking cherries", Charlie said.

"Oh, see that was just a perk. Cherries needed to be picked, we didn't wanna do 'em, so we made you", Sophie explained.

"Sophie that is so cruel", Ezra said.

"At least she's honest", Charlie said climbing down her ladder. "I'm gonna go around the other side".

"Good idea, Damien, go with her", Sophie told him.

The two walk off together. Charlie felt very lightheaded. As they walked around the corner, she collapsed. Damien ran to her rescue as well as the others. Kat stood back knowing why this had happened.

"Charlie, are you ok", Damien asked as she sat up.

"I'm fine, I'm just a little light headed, that's all...uh feeling a little light headed...you got that...I'm...babbling", she said hazily.

"Did you get enough lunch, do you need some water?" Sophie asked concerned.

"I'm fine, just let me sit down for a minute", she said. As she leaned back, the sleeve of her shirt fell down revealing her cuts. Damien grabs her arm quickly before she could cover it up.

"You're cutting", he said with certainty.

"No, I must have scratched it as I fell", Charlie grabbed her hand back hiding the cut with her sleeve.

"I'm not an idiot ok, that's too neat to be a scratch", Damien said, "Sophie, look".

"Look, he's overreacting ok".

"Charlie, show me your arm", Sophie said. Charlie pulled down her sleeve. "Jeez, let's get you to the infirmary. Did anybody know about this?" Charlie glimpses at Kat.

"No, nobody did".

In the infirmary, the new nurse, Julie, is filing papers when Peter comes in.

"Hey Julie", Peter greets her in an up beat voice.

"Hey, come to see Charlie?"

"Yeah, how is she?" Peter asked suddenly concerned.

"Well, she's going to be fine but, we found something I think you should take a look at". Julie walks over to her desk and from her drawer, pulls out some photos. Peter looks at them. The photo's show pictures of Charlie's ankles, revealing neat cuts in the form of a D and B.

"What is this?" Peter asks confused.

"It's a form of carving. I don't know much about it but sometimes we see kids who try to ease the pain there feeling by carving letters or symbols..."

"So, it's like a ritual", Peter asked.

"No, usually when someone carves something into there skin, it's a symbol for some kind of a gang or if its letters, it's probably someone she knew, or even someone that she hated.

"Why would she carve the letters of somebody she hate's?"

"Like I said, I don't know much about it", Julie admitted, "I'll do some reading and get back to you".

"Ok, can I see her?"

"Sure".

"Hey there", Peter said to Charlie. Charlie was lying on a bed covered in white sheets.

"Come to lecture me Peter, I don't need it?" Charlie said

"Just one question, that's all", Peter told her, "The letters on your ankles, did you do them?"

"No, I took myself to the tattoo parlor and got him to carve into my ankles with invisible ink", she joked.

"Ok, so why'd you cut last night?"

"Your one questions up", Charlie said blandly.

"For someone of your obvious experience, you lost a lot of blood; I mean to faint like that?" Peter pressed. Charlie rolls over not saying anything. "Why'd you do it, I thought you were finding Horizon a lot better now that you've settled in".

"Peter, just because this happened, it doesn't mean I'm gonna open up and tell you everything", Charlie said in one breath.

"Ok, well you're released", Peter said.

"Thank god, this bed is like a table", she got up off the bed and left.

Outside Charlie was walking towards her dorm. She didn't want to speak to anyone; she just wanted to go to sleep.

"Hey wild one", a voice coming from the gazebo said.

"Hey", Charlie said when she saw Damien.

"You're not mad at me are you?"

"No" she says blandly not making a lot of effort to prove her statement.

"Why'd you do it, I mean the whole D and B thing", Damien asked. Charlie looked up at him and smiled.

"You think its you?"

"What?"

"DB, Damien Bretones?" Charlie explained to him.

"Oh...I didn't even think of that". Damien sits down and Charlie follows. After a minute Charlie breaks the silence.

"Its not...you, I mean. I did it when I was 13. I was so scared around that time".

"So, you carved a D and B into your ankles?"

"It was two people, they both hurt me so much, I don't even know why I did it, I'm crazy, I guess.

"Your not crazy...your weird", he smiles. She smiles back.

"That's a good thing?"

"Well, why would you wanna be normal, right?" she smiles again.

"Well, I was crazy that night. I was out of my mind. I hated them so much and all I could think about was...what it would be like to...get away from it all. I mean it was realistic. It wasn't the fantasy that I wanted. I wasn't thinking about how it would be to live in house with a good family or whatever. I was thinking about getting away from everything...forever. Just ending it. But I guess something just said, I don't want to die, this cant be my life forever. So I carved. It was like, ok, for example, when I was younger, my father beat me. He used to put a stick, a belt and a wrench on the table and just say 'choose'", Charlie barely left a breath.

"I gotta go with the belt there", Damien said.

"See, I always went with the wrench"

"Why?"

"Because it was like I couldn't feel it anymore, or it didn't matter. I'd suffered so much pain that I didn't even care. And I guess it was the same that night. When I carved them, it was like; I could look at them and reassure myself that it didn't matter. But it backfired, because now when I look at it, I remember them, I remember what happened and now I care. And I hate it." Charlie was tearful now. She wiped her eyes.

"You know you could do?" Damien surprised her with an up beat voice.

"What?"

"Rename them", he said simply.

"Rename them, rename my ankles, I got sane and you went crazy?" she chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm serious, you could call them, Digsy and Butch", Damien laughed.

She laughed with him. "Digsy and Butch?"

"Yeah, that way when you look at them, you'll laugh, and the ugly memories would be gone", Damien said.

"I wish it was that easy, Damien."

"Ok, here's another approach", Damien said.

"Ok go ahead", Charlie was looking forward this.

"A couple years back I was watching this show, some Dawson's Creek type thing, only the kids were in college."

"Jeez, this sounds appealing", Charlie teased.

"This guy said, 'When I was little, I thought that life could be perfect, that if you were careful enough you would never make a mistake, never be lonely, never be misunderstood, never be frightened. But I soon found out that it doesn't work that way. Life's big and messy and you just have to climb in with your boots on and hope for the best. Like Thoreau said, 'heaven is under our feet, as well as over our heads'. And at the end of the day I have to say, I still feel pretty lucky to be here."

"What's this Dawson Creek guys point", Charlie asked teasingly.

"Well, what I think he's point is, life isn't always gonna work out for you the way you want it. You're gonna go through a lot of crap to get to the good stuff, but in the end, you will rise above it all."

"Wow", Charlie said in a semi-surprised kind of tone.

"Good?" Damien asked.

"Oh, yeah, Peter would hire ya", Charlie joked.

"Cool, I'm gonna go apply", Damien gets up jokingly. She smiles and pulls him by the arm back down. The two stare face to face making eye contact, their smiles fading into seriousness. "You make me laugh, Christensen", Damien told her. He doesn't move from his spot. Charlie feels herself leaning in towards him. Before she can tell their lips are touching. The kiss is long and passionate, nothing like the ones before. Charlie has never experienced this. Neither has Damien.

"You're not gonna deck me are you", he jokes.

"Maybe later", she replies as they kiss again.

A few minutes later, Charlie walks into her dorm where Kat sits on her bed. Nobody else is in the room. Charlie is smiling, for the first time in a while, happy to be here.

"Some ones happy, considering the days events", Kat said.

"Yeah, sorry about that, I shouldn't have put you in that position".

"Eh, it's over, don't worry about it. So...kissed any hot guys lately", Kat said with a laughing smile on her face.

"Oh, you saw that huh?" Charlie is embarrassed.

"Don't be embarrassed, besides Damien deserves some happiness", Kat smiles.

"And that's supposed to be me?" Charlie said cautiously.

"Why not?" Kat asked.

"You have no idea", Charlie mumbled under her breath.

"So...details?"

"Ahah", Charlie laughs nervously. "A lady never kisses and tells".

"Your not a lady, you're a girl, and we gossip till there's no tomorrow", Kat jokes.

"Well I'm a girl who likes to keep her secrets to herself Miss Nosy parker. I'm not one of those girls who sit around and gossip about the guys they're dating or whatever", Charlie confessed.

"Fine", Kat goes and sits back on her bed reading her book. There's silence in the room for a couple of minutes.

"He's a really good kisser", Charlie said breaking the silence.

Kat laughs and comes back over to Charlie's bed. They sit on the bed together. "Ok, so it all started when I was coming out of the infirmary and...." Charlie tells Kat the full details as they laugh like little gossiping girls. For the first time in a while, Charlie felt like she had a home. A place to stay with friends and family. All her worries had gone for that small time, that one hour of her life.

Wow!! That was really long. Hope you liked it. Please review.

Next chapter, all the niceness in this chapter is thrown out the window as Charlie breaks her last rule and prepares for juvie.

Ugh, I love it, it's like a soap!!! But hopefully with a little more taste. Thanks.


	8. Broken

The High Life

Hello, there. Well another chapter eh?

Thanks for all the reviews.

I own no characters you recognize.

Chapter 8: Broken

Charlie had woken up early the morning after everything happened. It was a windy day and she could here the trees rustling outside. She thought about last night. She thought about her self destructive measures that, by now, everybody would know about.

And she thought about Damien. She wondered what he was thinking; if he was regretting what had happened between them. Or if he was as happy as she was. But amongst all this she had forgotten one thing. Brian. She couldn't be with Damien when she was obligated to meet with him every single night. And Brian would already be angry with her as she had forgotten to meet up last night. She knew what she had to do.

Outside students were walking in every direction. As she walked, alone, to the cafeteria for breakfast she heard her name being called. She looked behind and saw Damien running to catch up to her.

"Hey, wait up", he called. "Didn't you here me, I called about 4 times".

"I guess not", she said nervously. This was her chance. She had to take it.

"Come to the shed with me, I gotta put this back", Damien showed her a football.

"Uh, I'm really hungry…" she said in the same nervous tone.

"It'll take like, two seconds", Damien almost dragged her along. "The food will be there when we get back". Charlie walked along with him. Maybe this was a good thing. They could talk in the shed.

They got to the shed and Damien put the football back in its rightful place.

"Hey, how's this?" Damien said. "Peter's giving me my own key to the shed so I can come in whenever I want".

"Hmmm, ok, in the time that I've been here, I don't think the sheds ever been closed", Charlie said unenthusiastically.

"Is something up here", Damien asked. "I'm kinda picking up on something".

Charlie said nothing.

"Come here", Damien pulled her to him and kissed her lips. She shut her eyes afraid of what she was about to tell him.

"What's up?"

"I just…" she couldn't do it. She saw his face, his eyes. He was so happy. "Nothing, I'm just being an idiot".

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure".

"Good", Damien said. "Cos if I have to quote any more television shows I think I'm gonna be sick".

Charlie smiled. He kissed her again.

The cafeteria was full of chatter as hungry people queued for the food. The Cliffhangers already had there's and were sitting down at their usual table when Damien and Charlie came in.

"Hey guys", Damien greeted them all as he and Charlie sat down.

"Joanie and Chachi, hello there", Ezra mused, "A little lat aren't we".

"Shut up E.Z", Charlie said.

"So, what's on the menu today", Damien changed the subject.

"Well, you see, it looks like bacon and eggs, doesn't really taste like bacon and eggs", Patrick told them with his thick Irish accent.

"Yay, something to look forward to", Charlie joked.

"Hello, cell buddies", and English accent behind them sang out. "How are we this morning"?

"We were fine up until a second ago", Mac said dryly.

"You know, I can't understand why we aren't all mates. Personally, I think you're jealous of me. My knowledge, my good looks, my wealth…"

"You arrogance, your selfishness, your egotistical nature", Charlie added to his list. "Yeah, I have no idea why I'm not green with envy".

"Oh, you can try and deny it, but we all know the real truth", Ryder continued to flatter himself.

"What planet are you from", Shane asked.

"Wherever it is, I'm glad I'm never gonna be there", Charlie said.

Walking back to her dorm, Charlie was not in a good mood. She was angry at herself for not breaking things off with Damien. Out of nowhere, a hand poked out from the bushes and grabbed her, pulling her into the green shrubbery. She knew who it was. It was the guy who had owned her for over five years. Brian.

"I didn't see you last night", he pinned her up with his arm against a tree.

"I fell asleep", she muttered.

"Aw, you fell asleep", he said faking his sympathy. "Well, that's not good enough, you know why, Charlie? Because I was out at that dock at 1:00 last night, waiting for you. And I don't like that." He throws her on the ground. She falls back bruising her arm.

"Get up", he said angrily. "GET UP". She stood up and he pushed her back against the tree. "I always get what I want", he said as he kissed her. She cried.

Charlie walked back to the dorm, crying. She didn't care if people saw her, she was just so angry at everything. Brian, herself, life. She was just angry. She got to her dorm and slammed the door. Nobody was in there. Crying forcefully, she picked up a photo of her mom and threw it across the room, the glass frame, smashing all over the floor. She grabbed her bed covers and tossed them in a heap by her bed. But she wasn't finished. She picked up the chair from under the desk and threw it against the wall. She hated this. Being so angry that she wanted to hurt somebody so they would be as hurt as she was. She went into the bathroom and closed the door. She looked for anything that would cut through her skin. But it was no use. Peter had removed anything that could be used. She opened the bathroom door and realized that she had just smashed the glass frame. She picked a piece up and went back into the bathroom. She cautiously held it to her arm. But something was stopping her. She thought about the past night, when Damien had tried to make her feel better. He had succeeded too, but it had only lasted the night. She couldn't do it. She slouched down and just sat there, hating herself, wanting to end it all, but knowing she couldn't. Then she remembered the day when she first came, when she had gone into the woods before Peter had searched through her stuff, and buried a bag of drugs.

She ran out of the dorm, still crying. Straight into the woods, she got to the spot and started burrowing with her hands. She pulled out a bag. In the bag, was a packet of cigarettes, a lighter, some rollies, weed and some painkillers. She took the weed and the rollies and rolled the weed into a cigarette. She grabbed the lighter and lit up. She took a draw before digging into the bag again and reaching for the pain killers. She stared at the packet before pulling out 3 tablets. She took them without another thought. Then she sat there, leaning against the tree, staring at the sky.

"You know we're gonna win, right", Damien told Patrick and Ezra as he kicked the ball to Binna. The guys were playing a nice afternoon game of football.

"You know Bretones, your getting way to cocky" Patrick stated.

"Confident", Damien corrected him. He took hold of the ball again and took the chance to get a goal. He kicked it, but instead of going through the goal, it went the entire opposite direction and into the woods. Patrick and Ezra laughed as Ezra went to go get it.

"Your heads too big Bretones", Patrick laughed. "It's not agreeing with ya anymore".

"Hey guys, I can't find it anywhere", Ezra came out from the bushes.

"You're just not looking", Binna said. The four boys wandered into the bush, looking for the ball.

Patrick looked around, searching through every shrub. Then he saw something in the bushes. He couldn't quite make out what it was, but to him, it looked like a body.

"Hey, guys come over here", Patrick yelled, "There's something by this tree".

Ezra crawled out from a bush. "What are you talking about?"

"Look", Patrick pointed as the other guys showed their faces.

The four of them walked closer, moving slowly towards the tree.

"Oh my…"Patrick was the first one to realize. "Quick guys, its Charlie".

Damien and Patrick ran up to the tree while Binna and Ezra stayed back.

"Is she ok", Damien asked. Patrick picked up the packet of painkillers and the bag of weed.

"Jesus", Patrick said. Damien was hysterical.

"Oh, Charlie, come on, wake up, come on, please", he was almost crying. He picked her up and carried her out into the clearing. The others followed. As they came out Peter was walking past. He saw Damien carrying Charlie and ran over.

"What wrong, what happened", Peter asked worried.

"She was passed out in the woods, we just found her…with these", Patrick showed him the pills and weed.

"I don't understand this", Peter said at the hospital, ":She was doing so well, first she's cutting and now this, I just, I don't get it".

"Well, she's definitely covering something up. She wouldn't do this if she didn't have a reason", Sophie told Peter. "God, I just hope she's alright".

"I just wish she would tell us what's going on", Peter said.

"Hey Peter, is there any news", Damien asked worriedly.

"No, Damien, nothing yet. Listen, why don't I get Soph to take you guys back, you don't need to be here", Peter said.

"No", Damien answered quickly, "I'm staying".

"Ok, ok", Peter said and Damien walked back to the group.

"Well, I guess this is it. I'm gonna have to send her to juvie", Peter told Sophie.

"That's if she pulls through. And Juvie, come on peter that's too much", Sophie said.

"Soph, she's breached too many rules here. This is supposed to be a sanctuary for kids who want to recover. Even if they don't show it. Its pretty clear that she doesn't want to.

Sophie sighed at Peter's decision. "Well, I guess that's it, then".

Another long chapter. It seems I'm on a role.

Hope you liked it. Please review.


	9. The Sound Of Life

The High Life

Hello hello

Well another day, another chapter.

Hope you like it. Please review.

You know the drill, I don't own any characters you recognise

Chapter 9: The Sound of Life

It had been one long night for Charlie. She had been locked up in a white padded room at the local hospital for what seemed like a decade. She was being released today. She didn't know if that was good news or bad. She knew that when she got back to Horizon, everyone was going to be asking why? And although she could just yell and tell the others to mind there own business, she knew that Damien wouldn't be that easy.

"Hey". In a quick second her thoughts co-insided with her reality and she was back, staring at Damien in the doorway.

"Hey", she said cautiously as he came in and sat down in the chair next to her bed.

"How ya doin?", he asked her. "You doing ok?"

"eh, nothing a rooftop and an AK-47 wont fix", she joked. He just looked at her disappointedly. "Bad joke, sorry".

"Why do you do that?" he asked suddenly annoyed.

"Do what?"

"You just, you go out of your way to… avoid your feelings", Damien struggled to find the words he wanted to say. "You use jokes and sarcasm…"

"It works doesn't it?" Charlie tried to avoid telling him the truth.

"You wouldn't be here if it did", Damien said blandly. Charlie was quickly getting agitated. "Look, I don't know why you do what you do but its obviously not helping. I've had to deal with some crap to, but you don't see me acting like nothings..".

"Look, I'm not you ok?" Charlie interrupted him, "I know I've got problems, I know that how I act probably isn't the way to deal with it, but that's me, ok? I don't know what else to do."

Damien sits back in his chair with nothing more to say.

"Ok".

She looks at him as he watches life go by through the hospital window.

"So, where are the other schmucks", she changed the subject.

"Outside waiting. They were worried about you", he told her.

"Yeah right", she scoffed, "They've been waiting for some sort of entertainment for weeks. Guess they finally got it".

"Yeah, I guess", Damien said.

"Hey, um, I'm kinda tired, do you mind if I just…"

"Yeah, yeah, sure", Damien stood up ready to leave. "Peter's sending us back soon, so we'll probably be gone when you wake up".

"Oh, well I guess I'll see ya tomorrow when I get back then", Charlie said hopefully.

"Yeah, course", Damien said. He bent down and kissed her on her forehead. "See ya".

"Bye", she said as he walked out.

"She ok?" Peter asked as Damien stepped out into the waiting room.

"Yeah, yeah, she's tired, she wanted to sleep for a bit", Damien replied.

"Ok, I'll go in for a minute, then we're leaving, you ready?"

"Yep".

"Ok, go tell the others", Peter said.

"Knock, knock", Peter said a she walked in to Charlie's hospital room.

"Peter, didn't Damien tell you, I…"

"Yeah, this wont take long", Peter interrupted. "Charlie, This isn't easy for me to say. Peter hesitated a little longer then just decided to come out with it. "Charlie, I'm sending you to juvie".

"What!?" Charlie was surprised. "Peter, I don't belong in juvie, look at me do I look like I belong in juvie".

"You've breached to many rules here. This is a sanctuary for kids who want to recover and from what I've seen I don't think you do", Peter explained.

"But Peter, I…" Charlie panicked.

"No, Charlie, I'm sorry, I'm just, I'm at the end of my rope", Peter told her. With nothing left to say, Peter left while Charlie was left to cry. She had no one to blame but herself. Peter was right. He'd given her so many chances and still she did everything she was told not to.

The next morning the Cliffhangers got up early so they could welcome Charlie back. None of them knew that as soon as she came back, she would be leaving again. Binna and damien were in the cafeteria first and were already busy feeding their faces

"Can you keep a secret", Binna said to Damien.

"Only until I meet another person", Damien joked.

"Ok, good enough. I think I like Kat" Binna said without hesitation.

"Well, that's good, I'm glad for you, I like her too", Damien said. "No, I mean I really like her", Binna said.

"Oh, uh…well, ask her out", Damien wasn't helping much.

"To where, the five star restaurant that's secretly hidden right outside of our dorm?" Binna joked.

"I don't know, why are you telling me this?, Damien asked. "I'm not exactly Chachi".

"Well, if I tell Patrick, he'll probably laugh then point and tell me what a loser I am, Ryder's a moron and Ezra's…well, Ezra", Binna explained.

"So, what am I, your teenage shrink?

"No, but, you know, your…", Binna stopped and tried to level with him. "Look, girls love you ok, your like one of those sensitive new age guys there always talking about…"

"You think I'm a snag", Damien teased.

"Don't joke, I need help," Binna told him.

"I'm sorry, I'm just so… delighted that you think I'm a snag", Damien laughed.

"Forget it, I knew I should've talked to one of the girls", Binna left the table to get some food.

"Hey, how about telling Kat. That'd work", Damien yelled after him still enjoying Binna's embarrassment.

"Dillhole," Binna joked yelling back.

As Damien was still chuckling the rest of the boys walked in and sat down.

"Hey, what was that about," Patrick asked.

"Oh, Binna thinks you're insensitive", Damien laughed.

"Right he is, my friend", Patrick said.

"I feel like pizza", Ezra said.

"Well, too bad for you, you got moldy old eggs benedict", Damien told him.

"Oh, the joys of Horizon", Ezra mused.

"So, whats on the agenda for today lads", Ryder asked in his high and mighty tone.

"Well, Charlie's coming back, hopefully peter will give me some time with her before I have to do my chores", Damien replied.

"Oh my god, you guys, guess what I just heard?" a voice said over Binna's shoulder. Cristina grabbed a seat with a big grin on her face.

"Let's see, peter finally gave you money so you could by some more hair products", Patrick teased.

"No, why, did he say something to you?" Cristina asked hopefully.

"Sarcasm Peg, look it up", Patrick suggested.

"Anyway, its about Charlie", said cristina. This got damiens attention.

"What about Charlie?" Damien asked.

"She's leaving Horizon".

"What?" Damien was furious. Why didn't she tell him?

"Yeah, Peter's sending her to juvie. She kinda deserves it", she said loving every minute of it.

Before anyone could say another word Damien had got up and stormed out of the cafeteria.

"Well, I thought it was funny", Cristina said matter of factly.

"Peter?" Damien yelled angrily as he walked into the office.

"Yes, Damien, come in", Peter said sarcastically.

"Why are you sending her away?" Damien asked still yelling.

"She needs us, she…, you cant just send her away".

"She's broken too many rules, Damien, I cant help her anymore, she's been in fights, she argues, she's taken drugs, she's self destructive…"

"So you send her away? She just tried to kill herself, Peter. You know she's gonna try again if you send her there…"

"What else can I do, Damien. She doesn't want help. She wants to go around, Drinking, drug taking, breaking curfews, going out in the middle of the night with some guy…"

"What, now I know that's not true. She's…we…she wouldn't do that ok", Damien told him.

"Well, she did. Roger caught her the other night," Peter said.

"No, she would have told me if…", Damien realized what was going on. Here he was battling with peter to make her stay and she was going off with some other guy. He felt betrayed.

"Damien, is there something going on between you and Charlie, something that I should know about", Peter asked.

"No", he said quickly. "I've gotta go". And with that he walked out with only one thing on his mind.

Later, everybody was sitting in mess hall, impatiently waiting for Charlie's return. Damien was the worst. He was so angry at her. He wanted to give her a piece of his mind. Then Peter entered the room with Charlie following.

"Hey guys", Charlie greeted them, "I'm back".

"Not for long", Damien said bitterly. "You're leaving right?"

"I…, yeah I'm…"

"You've disobeyed peter too many times. And now he's sending you to juvie".

"Yeah, ok, that's true", Charlie said. This was not the way she thought she would be greeted. What was Damien getting at?

Why was he so angry at her?

"Screw this", he walked away outside. She followed him. She still had no idea that he knew about Brian. Or atleast he knew the simple version.

"Damien", she called after him, "What's your problem?"

"My problem is you", Damien yelled back, "Stop acting like you have no idea whats going on here".

"Well I don't, that why I'm asking you."

"Think hard, Charlie," Damien said.

"Is this about juvie? Cos I don't have any choice", Charlie told him.

"God, you can go to juvie, maybe then I can forget all about you", Damien said furiously.

"Alright Damien, help me out here, what are you talking about?"

"Late at night, you and some guy at the docks", Damien said. Charlie stood there in shock. How did he find out? She'd been so careful.

"You know, you talk about how bad it was when Cristina did the same thing. Your just like her."

Charlie stood there. What could she say. She couldn't tell the truth. If Damien found out about what really happened it would be weird between them. How was she supposed to look at him, knowing that he knew that she was raped. It was embarrassing.

She knew that was a terrible excuse but it was true.

So she stood there, with nothing more to say.

"I'm sorry".

In Toga, California, a game of football is being held by a group of kids. There is one girls on the team. She is obviously a tom boy, despite being very pretty. The kids are all no older than 10 or 11. The girl is obviously close to one boy in particular.

"I'm gonna beat you, you know that, right?" the girl said cockily.

"To beat me, your actually gonna have to get a goal", the boy laughed.

"Charlie, wake up", Charlie heard Kats voice. "Come on get in the shower, your running late for breakfast".

"Yeah, in a second", Charlie said groggily.

"What did I tell ya, I win", the girl said.

"I let you win", argued childishly.

"Don't give me that 'Only girl on the team pity' crap. You know I'm better than you", she laughed.

"Hey, what are you gonna do about your dad", the boy asked.

"Ugh, he's so annoying, he told me I couldn't play football again. He thinks just cos I'm a girl, that's it not appropriate, I don't even know what appropriate means".

"That sux", the boy said.

"I wanna run away", she told him.

"What?" the boy panicked. "But you cant leave you're my best friend. I'd never leave you, ever".

"Calm down, I'm 10 years old, I don't even know how to cook".

"Charlie, come on", Kat said. "Whats up with you?"

"I had a dream", Charlie said. Charlie got up and went into the bathroom.

It was 7:00 in the cafeteria. The boys were not in the mood to be awake.

"Ugh, it is way too early to be getting up", Damien complained.

"Tell me about it", Ezra agreed. "How do people expect us to work when its too early for our brains to function".

"Hello, hello", Shayne greeted them as the girls came in.

As she was equally greeted by the boys Charlie was greeted by an awkward stare from Damien.

"So, whats on the menu this morning", Charlie broke the silence.

"bacon and eggs", Binna replied enthusiastically. "I guess you could call it a good day".

"Excuse me", Damien got up and walked out angrily. Charlie followed.

"Hey", Charlie yelled to him.

"What do you want Christensen", Damien replied.

"I want you to talk to me", Charlie hadn't worked out what she was going to say. She just knew she had to say something.

"Well, I'm sorry, I don't talk to skanks", Damien fired back at her.

That cut her. She remembered the time when she had just found out about cristina and Michael, and how she had proclaimed 'I don't talk to skanks'.

"Fine, don't talk to me, listen", Charlie said catching up with him. "I know I did the wrong thing, but your gonna make this hell for yourself and everyone around you if you keep ignoring. Damien, they are my friends too, which means we are gonna be spending a lot of time together as usual…"

"Well, I guess that's your fault then", Damien stormed off. Again , she caught up with him.

"Whats your problem anyway, we were barely going out", she yelled. He turns to face her after this.

"If that's all it was to you, then why are you so upset", Damien walked off again. This time she stood there. Charlie was angry. Damien had called her skank, all because of brian. She wished she could tell the truth, but she didn't have the courage. So she decided to do something drastic.

"What are you doing here", Brian said as he looked through Charlie's furious eyes. "Baby, you know I cant be seen with you".

"Yeah, I really don't care," Charlie walks in, looking around, making sure they are alone. This is by far the most bravest thing she has ever done. "I just thought I'd tell ya, I'm leaving".

Brian chuckles. "No you're not".

"Oh yeah, I am. I got kicked out. I'm going to juvie. I guess that means you're little manipulations are over huh?" she said confidently. "You cant hurt me anymore, Brian, but I can hurt you so bad. And frankly, I just don't think its fair that I have to go to Juvie and you get to stay in Horizon. So this is the plan. I tell Peter just before I leave, he rings the cops, and guess what? you're going to jail. Isnt it funny how life works out".

"Oh you're hilarious", Brian scoffs.

"Oh, its quite easy to be hilarious these days. Especially now that I know that youre gonna be locked up somewhere far away from me", Charlie said before turning to leave. "Good bye Brian".

Peter is in his office doing some paper work when Charlie bursts in.

"Peter, I need to talk to you", Charlie said quickly. She wanted to get everything out before she changed her mind.

"If this is about juvie, I've made up my mind, Charlie"

"It's not about that", she reassured him. "Peter", she said nervously. "If… If I told you something, would you have to tell the school, um, If it was something personal about me?"

"Well, that depends what it is, if its something serious like, say assault, then I would have to put it on your records, maybe have to tell the authorities but the students don't find out", Peter said helpfully.

"Ok…um, I want to tell you whats going on…with me", she said.

"Ok, go ahead", Peter told her.

"Its about this guy… at the docks. He's name is Brian Atwell and I knew him on the streets."

"Ok"

"Its hard, out there…on the streets. I was out there for a while before I met Brian. I was 13 and he caught me steeling a car radio. He nearly threatened to dob me in to the cops but then he decided not to. Instead, he wanted something else from me. He wanted…" she couldn't get it out. She was so ashamed.

"He wanted sex", Peter helped her.

"At first I told him to go to hell, but then he threatened to kill me. I knew he didn't care about the car stereo, all he wanted was…

Anyway later I found out he was a dealer, I wanted some drugs so badly, I need to get away from the pain. And soon enough I was wasting all the money I was getting on getting high. So, one day, I met this girl, she was a prostitute. She told me it was easy. So I did it. A couple of months past and brian was back in town, and he found out what I was doing. Since he'd done it before, he thought he could take advantage of me, and not even pay me. So he didn't. I was just so scared. I knew he could kill me if he wanted to. When he turned up here, I didn't know what to do."

"Was he molesting you here, Charlie?"

Charlie nodded tearfully.

"That's it?"

"Yeah", Charlie said.

"You know what this means, right?" Peter asked unexpectantly.

"What?"

"Go unpack your bags", Peter told her. "You can stay".

"Thank you Peter", she smiled. "Um, wahts gonna happen to brian?"

"Well, I'll report him, you might have to make a statement and then hopefully we can get him out of her and in jail", peter said matter of factly. Again, she said thank you and left to unpack her things.

Hope you liked. Of couse I wasn't going to send her juvie. Then my story would be over. Please review.

Coming up, Cristina and Charlie head off on and adventure together.


	10. On The Run

Higher Ground

How goes it, people? Good? Good.

Thanks for the reviews, appreciate it

You know the drill, I own no one you recognize, blah, blah.

On with the story!

The High Life

Chapter 10: On The Run

It was like any other day at Horizon, people sprawled out on the chairs in the mess hall, a couple of guys playing foot ball outside. Everything felt normal, except for Charlie, it felt like she had to start all over again. Even after winning Peter over, she knew that she still had a long way to go with the Cliffhangers. Damien was a big part of the Cliffhangers and now that everyone thought that she had screwed him over, she was all alone again. Maybe that wasn't entirely true, but she still felt like she had no one. Patrick and Kat had stood by her, not wanting to get in the middle, but she knew that they didn't approve. How could they?

So she sat in the gazebo, all by herself, ready to defend herself with sarcasm, just like she had all those months ago when she first came to the mountains. But she was not alone. In the bushes she heard a scuffling of the feet as Cristina came out of the clearing, carrying a suitcase, and looking very suspicious. Charlie thought about letting it go. She wasn't in the mood to stir the pot. But then she couldn't help wondering, 'What was Cristina doing with a suitcase?'

"Princess Peg", she yelled. "Where d'ya think your going, huh?"

Cristina was startled. It was obvious that she didn't do subtle well.

"Oh uh… Peter wants me to go home for a while. You know, see my mother", Cristina said in a not so calm voice.

"Aha", Charlie nodded not buying her story. "That's why your sneaking around in the woods like a rat on steroids".

Cristina knew she was beaten. She was never a great liar.

"You cant stop me ok. I'm leaving", she said warning her.

"Relax, I'm not gonna stop ya", Charlie laughed eating this up. "You wanna run, run. Where you gonna stay?"

"I don't know. I'll find somewhere".

"Don't tell me you're gonna rough it Princess. You wouldn't last a day out there on your own", Charlie told her.

"How do you know? I've done it before".

"Yeah, and you couldn't hack it", Charlie mused. "Tell ya what. I'll come with ya".

"But you just got Peter to let you stay here", Cristina said.

"Forget about that. You need me".

"You're not even packed", Cristina pointed out.

"Doesn't matter. We aren't leaving till dawn tomorrow morning".

"What? I'm sorry but I'm leaving now", Cristina told her.

"You leave in broad day light, you'll get caught getting out on the main road", Charlie said wisely. "4 o'clock tomorrow morning. Don't be late".

"What am I supposed to do with my stuff?"

"Leave it out here overnight, it'll be fine".

Dinner was especially awkward for Charlie. When she walked in to the cafeteria she was positive all eyes were on her. She saw the Cliffhangers. While Ezra was busy slirping down whatever drink he had, the others were deep in some sort of argument with Ryder. But as soon as Charlie entered Damien looked up. For a brief moment she stood there looking back at him and wondering if she should sit with them or pick the empty table she had grown accustomed to when she had first arrived at Horizon. She decided to go and sit at the empty table in the corner. She put her tray down and as she sat down she saw Kat coming over

"Hey", Kat said. "What ya doin?" Kat was subtle.

"What does it look like I'm doing. I'm distancing myself off from all the people that cant stand me", Charlie said with a hint of sarcasm.

"It's not like that, Charlie. It's just that they don't understand what happened", Kat told her.

"Isnt that why I'm on the outer. Because they do understand? Look, Kat, thanks for coming over, but they have every right to feel the way that they do. I made my bed."

"So, how are we gonna do this anyhow?" Cristina asked sleepily. It was just past 6am and the girls were on there way. They had just walked all the way from Horizon to St Agnus' town centre. "You cant tell me where gonna be walking all the way".

"Jeez, you really would have been lost without me", Charlie said.

"Where are we going anyway", Cristina complained.

"California", Charlie said simply.

Cristina laughed nervously. "California? Ok news flash, we're in Vancouver, It's a whole different country".

"Smart girl".

"Well, how are we gonna get there, do you have a car waiting?"

"No, I got a thumb", Charlie held out her finger to hitch a ride.

"You cant do that, theres sick freaks out there", Cristina said,

"Yeah, I'm one of them, come on", Charlie said losing patience. Within a few minutes a truck stopped for them.

"Where ya goin", Charlie asked.

"Seattle, where are you ladies headed?" the truckie asked. Charlie smiles.

"Charlie, I am not going in there, I don't ride in trucks.. Can't we atleast find a Jag or something, it stinks in there", Cristina whispered.

"Life's a bitch, get in", Charlie demanded blandly.

"Hey guys, anyone seen Charlie?" Peter asked the group who were all slumped over chairs in the messhall. A few murmers signified no.

"Well, If anyone see's her, can you tell her I want to see her?" Peter said before walking out.

"You know, Charlie's wasn't at breakfast either", Pat pointed out.

"She's not in the dorm, she was gone before anybody even woke", Kat said.

"Maybe she's gone", Ryder said almost delighted.

"You mean like, run away, gone for good?" Mac asked.

"Makes sense doesn't it?"

"No", Damien said. "She just got permission to stay, don't be an idiot".

"Maybe she ran to get away from you", Ryder mused.

"Ryder, how do you like that face of yours, cos I can guarantee that in a few short minutes, its gonna be brutally disfigured", Damien was getting angrier.

"Maybe I hit a nerve", Ryder got up and walked out leaving Damien to stew.

Somewhere no where near Seattle, Charlie and Cristina felt like they had been walking for hours, ever since the trucker had dropped them off in a deserted town called Cape Burgerfriese.

"I am too tired to function", Cristina complained.

"Stop complaining, that sign back there said 6 miles to town, once we get there we can hitch a ride for the rest of the way", Charlie told her.

"Why couldn't we have atleast stayed in Canada", Cristina asked.

"Because Princess, if where gonna be on shuns for a month for running, I'm gonna do it properly", Charlie failed to explain.

"So we go to California?"

"Look, I got unfinished business there, alright", Charlie said.

"Unfinished business, you sound like one of those mafia movies", Cristina said.

"Surprised Peg. Here I was thinking you still believed the mafia was something made up by the same person who thought up the Boogeyman", Charlie couldn't hide that she was just as tired as Cristina.

"It's getting dark, we can continue tomorrow", she said, "we should find somewhere to sleep for the night".

"Charlie, sorry to disappoint you but do you see any establishments around here", Cristina said completely clueless.

"You wanted the Holiday Inn?. We'll go down that track, find a tree or something to shelter us", Charlie said wisely.

"I'm sorry, did you just say a tree", Cristina followed Charlie down through the track.

"You should be used to all the nature, being around Horizon for so long. Ah look", Charlie pretended to be absolutely delighted, "And its even got its own stump to lean on". Charlie sat down and opened her backpack.. "Here", she said handing Cristina a sandwhich "Eat this".

"Has that been in your bag since this morning?"

"Ah yeah, so?" Charlie didn't see the problem.

"Why don't you eat that, I'll just get something tomorrow when we get to the town", Cristina said.

"Suits me fine, but once your money runs out, don't rely on me", Charlie bit into her sandwhich. For a few minutes the girls sit there in silence.

"Hey Charlie?"

"Yeah, what?" Charlie finished eating.

"Why'd you come, I mean, I know you were happy that Peter let you stay, so why'd you leave?" Cristina asked in all seriousness.

"Cos you needed me", Charlie lied.

"Charlie, everyone knows that you cant stand me, don't get all moralistic now", Cristina told her. Cristina was right. Charlie sat there for a while pondering her thoughts.

"Don't you ever feel like you need to get away?"

"Yeah that's why I'm here", Cristina said. Charlie went silent again.

"Come on, lets get some sleep, where gonna need our rest for tomorrow", Charlie told Cristina.

"Soph, we got a problem", Peter told her as he walked into his office.

"What is it?"

"Charlie and Cristina are missing, nobody's seen them all day", Peter explained.

"You mean they've done a runner?" Sophie asked.

"Its strange, I mean, not only is it Charlie and Cristina together, but Charlie only just asked to stay".

"Well, why would Cristina go?" Sophie asked.

"Well, I knew she'd been having some problems with her mother, but I don't understand why she would run because of that", Peter said.

"You mean that phone call from her brother the other day?" Sophie pieced together, "Why? What did he say?"

"Apparently he told her that her mother wasn't going to come up for parents day next week because she couldn't get away from work, but, I don't know, I just cant imagine Cristina leaving Horizon because of that", Peter explained.

"Well, do the Cliffhangers know?" Sophie was trying to get her head around this.

"Ah no, not yet, but I know there wondering", Peter told her. "Well, I guess we'll call a search first thing tomorrow".

"Where do you think they may have gone?" Sophie asked.

"I'll give ya one guess", Peter said surely.

"California", Sophie chimed in realizing.

It was a fresh new morning and Charlie and Cristina had been walking for hours. Again, Cristina was complaining about her tired legs, her unwashed body and even the fact that her bare face had not make up on it.

"I'm so hungry", Cristina said.

"How much money you got left", Charlie asked. Cristina checked her pockets. Nothing. "Cristina, you had 15 bucks yesterday, what happened to that?"

"I was hungry", she cried.

"So you spent the whole 15 dollars? Now what are you gonna do for the rest of the time?"

"Well, you've still got some money, don't you", Cristina asked.

"5 bucks isn't gonna go very far between two people", Charlie explained. "Look, don't worry, we'll figure something out".

"Well, how'd you manage all those years on the streets with no money?" Cristina said naively.

"It wasn't easy, believe me", Charlie said avoiding telling her the truth. "Come on the next town isn't that far away".

Charlie was exhausted. Not only because she had been on the road for hours, she was beginning to get impatient with Cristina. The only thing keeping her sane was the knowledge that Cristina would get bored in a couple of days and decide to go back.

Ok thats enough for today. Please review.


	11. There's No Place Like Home

Hey, I'm back. It's been a while. My computer got disconnected from the net so I have to use the library which makes things kinda hard. On with the story.

This Chapter is rated M for Violence.

Chapter 11… There's No Place Like Home

It had been a rough night for Peter. Charlie and Cristina had now been gone for over 2 days. He had tried to convince the other cliffhangers that they were just joking around and that they'd be back later on that night. But it was the morning after and he was sure the cliffhangers would suspect something was wrong. He already had Roger out in California but so far there was no sign.

Two days and finally Charlie and Cristina had arrived in California. The whole arrival was bitter sweet for Charlie. She was happy they had finally arrived so all she had to do was wait for Peter to find them, and she couldn't wait to be free from Cristina's constant wining. But she was also very disturbed. These streets that she was standing on right now were her home for so many years. She had no good memories of this place. They were ugly, filthy memories that she would rather forget but couldn't.

"So where here", Cristina chimed in her usual chirpy voice. "What do we do now?"

"Um", Charlie was half listening, half taking in her surroundings. "I gotta go to the warehouse".

"The warehouse, the warehouse for what?" Cristina asked.

"I just, um I gotta do something", Charlie was haunted by this place. When she left she swore she'd never be back, but here she was. She knew that Peter would eventually find them.

"Well, where is it?" Cristina was starting to get on Charlie's nerves.

"Uh, just… just around the corner", she remembered.

The Horizon Cafeteria was alive with the usual sounds of morning chit chat. But the Cliffhangers weren't in the mood for anything. None of them could figure out why the two had run away. Just when they were all sitting down, ready to drown there sorrows by eating; Ryder came in with a smile that just made Damien want to punch him.

"I have some news", he raved in a sing-song voice.

"Oh, are you going back to the mother ship?" Shane commented.

"Cute", Ryder smirked. "Actually it's about Cristina and Charlie".

"What? What's the news?" Damien was suddenly interested in what Ryder had to say.

"There in California", Ryder said simply.

"Why would they be in California?" Kat asked.

"Well that's where Charlie used to live; they think she might have gone back because she thinks that that's the first place they would look".

"What? You're saying she wants to be found, that doesn't make sense", Damien was confused.

"Well, you see in a screwed up way it actually does. Here's my theory, Cristina was pissed at her mother, yeah, so she decided to pack her bags, but she got caught. Charlie just happened to be walking by at the exact same time as Cristina was sneaking out, now Cristina of course wouldn't be able to lie to a dogs arse so she ended up telling Charlie exactly what her plan was. Charlie thought this could be my way outta here for a couple of days, she made Cristina go to California with her, knowing that Peter would be there in a few", Ryder said as if he had obviously thought about this.

"You have a very wild imagination", Binna told him.

In California, Charlie and Cristina were standing outside of the warehouse.

"Um, are you going to go in or not?" Cristina asked cautiously.

"Yeah, yeah, come on, follow me". They walked through the hole in the roller doors. "Anybody here?" Charlie spoke loud enough for anyone to here.

"It can't be", Charlie heard a smug voice behind her. "It is, Its Charlie Christensen, what are you doing here?"

"Hey Greg, uh, I'm in the neighborhood", she said.

"Last I heard you were up in Canada, doing time", Greg said.

"I wasn't doing time, I was in a teenage retreat thing", Charlie mumbled.

"So, what brings you by", Greg asked.

"Uh, well, me and my friend Cristina here need a place to stay". Cristina's face fell. She pulled Charlie back so she could have a private conversation.

"What, what is it?" Charlie asked.

"I can't stay here", Cristina told her.

"Why not?"

"Um, its, it's a warehouse", Cristina said in a snobby voice.

Charlie turned to Greg and smiled, then whispered to Cristina. "It's a warehouse with a bed, what did you want with 5 bucks".

"They are not beds, they're rat infested playgrounds", Cristina struggled to find the words.

"Hey, do you want a bed or not", Greg asked impatiently.

"Absolutely", Charlie smiled.

"Why did you do that", Cristina asked later when they were walking down the street.

"Why'd I do what", Charlie played dumb.

"Why did you say we'll stay there when I clearly told you I wouldn't", Cristina asked.

"Look, we needed a bed, I got a bed. Where not gonna be here long anyway", Charlie told her.

"What do you mean where not gonna be here long? Why not?"

"Because princess, you weren't cut out to be and alley cat alright. I know you think that this is easy, you think when you run away, people feel sorry for you and they fall at your feet. But that's not how it is. It's hard. People don't have any sympathy for people like us. They blame us for all the corruption on the streets, which is ok. Cos sure, we do whatever we can to survive and let me tell you something, none of it goes along with the law. We're out for ourselves, we have to be, and that's it".

"You didn't have to come", Cristina said quietly.

"Yeah, you know what, I did. Because I knew that you couldn't do this on your own. I spent six years out here ok. I know what its like. And to tell you the truth, both of us are damn lucky to be in Horizon. I know it isn't much, but it's better than being out here".

Cristina pondered what Charlie had just said for a few minutes as they continued to walk. They didn't realize that right in front of them was one of many, of Charlie's worst nightmares.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Charlotte Christensen", a young man standing against a telephone booth said. Charlie looked up in horror.

"Adam", she said simply.

"What'd you do, escape from the can?" Adam said.

"None of your business", Charlie grabbed Cristina's arm and walked passed him. He grabbed Charlie's arm and flung her back to him, pinning her up against the booth.

"You got my money?" he asked.

"Let go of me", Charlie tried not to let him know she was hurting.

"Still the same old Charlotte huh?" Adam said. "Slut".

Cristina was scared. She had no idea what to do. Should she try fighting him or would that make thing worse? She could never take on a guy like that. She could barely take on her little sister. She felt a shot of pain as she thought of her sister, Jacqui.

"I don't have your money", she said it slowly as if he was deaf and trying to lip read. Suddenly his hand swept across her face, hitting her forcefully on her cheek. Cristina gasped.

"Give me my money", he repeated.

"She doesn't have it ok, look I don't know how much she owes you but all we have between us is 5 dollars", Cristina jumped in. He looked at her. For a second Cristina thought he was about to let Charlie go and aim for her. But just as the thought was gone from her mind, Adam through another punch at Charlie. And then another and another. It was over as quick as it began or at least it felt like it, Charlie was in a bad way. She had blood all over her face. She was on the ground. What amazed Cristina the most is that there were 2 people watching. They looked pretty messy, they were probably homeless so she figured they probably were scared and didn't want to get involved. Cristina rushed to Charlie as soon as Adam left.

"Help me up", Charlie said weekly.

"Are you ok, should we go to a doctor", Cristina was worried.

"No, no, I'm fine, I just, let's just go to the warehouse."

It was night time at the warehouse and Cristina and Charlie were in there beds. Charlie had been cleaned up although she still looked pretty banged up.

"Does it hurt?" Cristina whispered.

"Of course it hurts", Charlie said straight out.

"I've never seen a guy do that to a female before", Cristina said.

"Adam's not a guy, he's an animal", Charlie pointed out.

Cristina and Charlie sat in silence for a minute.

"My sister died the other day. She was 10", Cristina said out of the blue.

"I'm sorry", Charlie turned around to face Cristina.

"My brother called the other day and he told me that I couldn't go to the funeral", Cristina continued.

"Shouldn't that be your choice?" Charlie asked.

"You'd think so huh?" Cristina smiled sadly. "Mom thinks that I'll do something terrible and screw it all up".

"Is that why you ran away", Charlie asked.

Cristina nodded. "I just couldn't be there anymore, I wanted to make my mother hurt and I thought if I went missing she'd be so worried…"

"That she'd let you go", Charlie finished for her. Cristina smiles uncomfortably. "You should go. It shouldn't be up to your mom if you want to go to your sister's funeral. I mean she was your sister, it's not fair".

"I don't wanna cause any trouble. If I go there my mom will freak out and the whole ceremony will be ruined", Cristina told her.

"Well then you should give her time to prepare", Charlie suggested.

"Prepare?"

"Yeah, call her, tell her your going and there's nothing she can do about it, do it before the funeral, give her some time to be pissed and then hopefully if she's so hell bent on not causing a scene she wont", Charlie explained.

"You think that could work?" Cristina asked.

"Well, yeah, why shouldn't it. Cristina you have your rights and this should be one of them". Cristina went silent for a few minutes while she thought about this.

"You think we can start heading back tomorrow?" Cristina said.

"To Horizon?" Charlie said. "Jeez, I thought you'd never ask".

"Hey, Charlie there's someone here looking for you", Greg came in. Behind him was a very familiar face. Roger.

"Roger? God, I thought you'd never get here," Charlie got up showing Roger her face.

"God, what happened, are you ok", he panicked.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine, just a little incident before", Charlie told him. "Come on, what are you waiting for?" She asked Cristina.

"You knew about this?" Cristina asked.

"Not exactly", she answered secretively.

After catching a plane back to Horizon the girls were pulling up the drive way. Peter and Sophie ran out. As Charlie got out of the car she saw the Cliffhangers in the corner of her eye surrounded by some other students. There a police car there. As the crowd cleared she saw Brian being driven away in the car.

"Charlie, you look terrible", Peter said.

"Your honesty kills me Peter", Charlie said. She shifted her attention back to the Cliffhangers.

"Hey, look guys, they're back", Ezra yelled out to the other cliffhangers as he ran over to Charlie and Cristina. "Look at that huh? I wonder what he did". The others came running over except for Damien who stayed back. "Jeez, what happened to you", Shane asked.

"She got in a little trouble", Roger told the group.

"Alright Charlie, come on we'll get you into the infirmary", Sophie walked her off. As she went passed Damien the two looked at each other. Charlie started to feel uncomfortable about how her face must have looked and tried her best to cover the bruises up with her hair.

After about half an hour in the infirmary the Cliffhangers came to see Charlie. She had band-aid strips all around her face and she knew she must have looked like an alien.

"Wow, don't you look beautiful", Patrick said sarcastically. She smiled as she kept her eyes on Damien. She was anxious to know what he was thinking. She looked for any signs of hate or regret, anything, but all she got was blankness.

"So, how are you feeling?" Kat asked in her usual mothering tone.

"I feel fine, it's just a couple of bruises", Charlie reassured them. "So, what have I missed? Anything interesting happen?"

"Mmm no", Shane thought for a minute. "Well there was that guy before".

"Oh yeah, did you see that, that was pretty entertaining", Binna said.

"Yeah I saw it, when I was coming up", Charlie told them. "Does anyone know what he did to get taken away?" She played along. She wasn't ready for people to find out about her and Brian.

"Nope, we know as much as you do", Ryder told her.

"Well we should get going, I gotta pack for tomorrow and we got group in 5 so…"Mac trailed off.

"Ok, see you all in group", Charlie said blandly. As the group left, Charlie realized there was one left over.

"Hey", Damien said. He had no idea what he was going to say next but for some reason he couldn't pull himself away.

"Hey", Charlie replied cautiously.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"Its getting better", she answered. There was silence between them. She could see he wanted to speak his mind. "Say it".

"What?"

"Say it. Whatever you wanna say", Charlie said.

"You don't wanna here what I wanna say", he backed away as if to ward off the direction the conversation was going.

"Yeah I do", she said simply.

"Ok", he gave in. "Um… what, what you did, it wasn't right. I mean I get that it was going on before the thing with us but you should have told me".

"I know", she said.

"There's just one thing I don't get though. I mean, I know, you are a major pain in the ass but the one thing I didn't think you would do, you did. I just don't get it after all the stuff you said about Cristina and you go do the same thing", he said.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you, Damien, I can't explain it, I screwed up", Charlie told him. "Nothing ever makes sense".

"I thought we did", Damien said.

She looked up at him trying hard not to cry. "I never knew that I could come here and just break", he looked at her studying her face. He could see that tears were forming in her eyes. "What this place does to people, it's… When I first came here, I was such a brat, yelling at everyone, trying to show everybody how tough I am. It's just funny how fast this place takes all that away from you just leaves you so vulnerable. For the first time in my life, I feel like I need someone. And I like that feeling," She stopped with nothing more to say. Damien didn't know how to take this.

"I should go", he said not moving, still looking at her.

"Ok", she said softly. He stepped away and walked to the door, opening it. "Hey", she said getting his attention before he walked out the door.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry", she whispered. "I don't know if I ever told you that".

"You did", he said then left shutting the door behind him.

Its time for group as Ryder walks in the mess hall cheerfully.

"Hello Boys and girls. Bit of drama going on this afternoon eh. The terrible twosome coming back, and then that lad being pulled away in a pig van." He stops as Charlie walks in. "Wasn't expecting you here so soon, I was just talking about you, your big adventures, its all quite exciting really isn't it". Charlie doesn't reply. She too exhausted to even focus but peter made her come. "What? No insults? I must say I'm a little disappointed. I haven't seen you in a few days; I thought you'd be throwing them out like popcorn."

"My blood sugars low", she says tiredly, "Give me a burger and I'll get back to you".

Time went by and Charlie wasn't even listening to anyone. When it got to her turn to say how she felt, she had no idea.

"Charlie", Damien said for the second time after he'd taken his turn.

"Oh, um…uh alone", she said. People looked at her. "Uh, Ryder?"

"I am feeling stupendous and at the same time very anxious", Ryder said before calling out for Binna to go next. Charlie had already switched her attention off but when it got around to Damien's turn to say "why", she suddenly felt compelled to listen.

"Uh, I'm confused because", he paused for a second, "I don't know because something's just bugging me and I don't know what to do about it". Charlie knew he was talking about her. "Charlie".

"Uh…um, I'm sorry can I change my word?" she asked.

"Charlie, come on", Peter encourages her.

"Ok, um, I'm, I'm alone because…because I am. Because I always have been, and just when I start to feel like there's a reason for me being alive, I go and screw it all up again".

"Do you wanna talk about it, Charlie" Peter asked.

"No", she said straight out, "Ryder?"

"I'm feeling stupendous because my favorite entertainment just came back and anxious because I'm anxiously waiting vigorously for another day as exciting as this one".

Finally the day was over and Charlie and Cristina could get a good night sleep. As Charlie was getting ready for bed, Kat came over and sat on her bed. She didn't say anything so Charlie felt like she should say something.

"Hey Kat".

"Hey, listen about the whole Damien thing, I just want you to know that nobody thinks any less of you", Kat said.

"Nice try", Charlie laughed weekly.

"Ok, well I don't. I'm serious, I mean you know what you did was wrong and it's not up to me or anyone else to judge what happened between you and someone else", Kat finished.

"Kat, have you been preparing that all day", Charlie smiled suspiciously.

"No, I just thought you should know", Kat said.

Charlie smiled. "Well, thanks. It means a lot".

Ok that's it for this chapter. Hopefully it'll make up for all the time you waited. Next up, the Cliffhangers go on a hike and as any soap opera would have it, Charlie and Damien get into a huge fight and she ends up blurting out too much. Also Mac says goodbye to Horizon.

Signing off

ME


	12. Chapter 12

Higher Ground

The High Life

Hey everyone! Thanks to all my reviewers. It's been a while since I've updated. I wanted to get a start on my new story, Painted Black. I couldn't wait any longer and I missed all the original Cliffhangers so I decided to write a fic about them. Anyway, on with the story.

Chapter 12…Truth Hurts

It had been a long week since Charlie and Cristina had returned to Horizon. They had both been on shuns and today was the first day in a week that they were allowed to talk to their class mates. Not being able to say anything was especially hard on Cristina. She had wanted to tell all the Cliffhangers about their adventures in California. Charlie, on the other hand had used this time alone, to do the one thing she didn't want to do. Think. She had thought about everything from her years on the street, to her time at Horizon and then she just thought about one person. Damien was so hurt by what she had done. She even thought about telling him the truth, but she knew he could never understand. As she pushed the door to her dorm open and looked around, she saw that nothing had changed. Her bed was still exactly the same as the day she had left it almost two weeks ago, the walls were the same murky green colour, even her toothbrush in the bathroom still sat in the same rack. But with all these normality's, she still felt so different. Just as she sat on her bed, there was a knock on the door. She walked over and opened it to see Damien.

"Hi", he said awkwardly.

"Hey", she replied.

"Yeah, look…um, I know you weren't at group this morning but, Peter wanted me to tell you about an assignment we have to do.

"Oh, ok", Charlie was a little curious as to why he felt he had to come around to her dorm instead of just telling her at lunch in 20 minutes.

"Yeah, see it's a questionnaire type thing, we have to do it in pairs", Damien explained.

"Let me guess", Charlie said, "Peter wants us to work together".

"Yeah", Damien said. "That's not a problem is it?"

"No, of course not", Charlie answered quickly. "Its not a problem for you is it?"

"Um, no, not at all", he told her unassuringly.

"Good", she forced a small smile on her face.

"Well, um, I should go then", he told her, "I'll see you at lunch".

Back in the boy's dorm room, Ryder was giving the guys a hard time, as usual.

"So, you ready to let everyone know all those gory little details about your life, that you've all been working so hard to keep."

"You know, one day that face of yours is going to be introduced to a fist, and I'm gonna be there watching", Binna commented.

"I really don't know what your problem is mate. Honestly, I'm worried about all of you. Your like a bunch of women with PMS", Ryder retorted.

The others chose to ignore Ryder after that. What was the point in trying? Ryder was never going to change.

"Hey Frenchy, why so quiet?" Patrick noticed Damien slouched over his bed not paying much attention to anything that was going on around him.

"huh?"

"Poor Romeo's having trouble with his Juliet. Come on young lad, talk it out, Ryder's here to help", Ryder teased in a patronizing way.

"Shut up Ryder", Damien snapped.

"You never know, this assignment might do the both of you a world of good. Might even help you", Patrick said, his thick Irish accent coming through in his speech.

"Help you kill each other maybe", Ryder mumbled.

It had already been a grueling day of questioning for most of the Cliffhangers. All except for two. Charlie hadn't turned up to her lesson and therefore left Damien to get on with other work. Annoyed and relieved at the same time Damien went to Charlie's dorm after the lesson. He'd been dreading doing this particular assignment with her but he needed this grade. When he got to her dorm, before he could even knock the door opened.

"Off somewhere?" he said annoyed.

"I need to see Peter", Charlie told him trying to get passed.

"Why didn't you come to class, you seem fine", he asked.

"Why do you care?" she asked curiously.

"Don't answer a question with a question", he said.

"Don't try to dodge a question", she bit back.

"Your one to talk, why didn't you come to class", he asked again.

"Well, gee Damien, maybe I thought you'd be relieved if I didn't show. You don't want to do this with me anymore than I want to do it with you so I figured I'd make it easier on you".

"Yeah, well, I need the grade", he said.

"So how about I do my questionnaire and you do yours…"

"Because Miss Christensen, that wouldn't be very fair would it", a voice came from behind Damien. It was Peter. "Sorry, did I interrupt? Well, now that I did, you can both start your questionnaires right now in my office".

"What? Peter that's not fair, I'm not the one who dodged class", Damien protested.

"I'll lead the way, shall I", Peter said.

"You know, this is your fault", Damien said as him and Charlie sat in Peter's office while he kept a watchful eye on them from inside the reception.

"What, you have a degree in stating the obvious", Charlie looked up at him. As she did he noticed that he didn't even recognize her anymore. Or he did, but what he recognized was the fake Charlie that he had come to know when she had first arrived. Definitely not the Charlie he had fallen for.

"Name?" he asked, reading from the sheet of paper.

She rolled her eyes, as she scoffed sarcastically. "Pippins McGee and yours?"

"Can you please just be serious", he said.

"Pippins McGee is very serious", Charlie joked. Damien decided to move on.

"Favorite band?"

"Oh The Partridge Family. Their version of I Think I Love You is the first and the best don't you think".

"I know that your favorite band is the Killer's, Charlie", Damien said.

"Oh, but see I'm not Charlie, I'm Pippins McGee".

"Alright, if your not going to be serious, I'm damned if I'm going to sit here in my lunch break and listen to you", he got up just as Peter came in.

"Going somewhere, Damien?"

"Peter, I'm not gonna sit here while she tells me her name is Pippins McGee and that her favorite band is The Partridge Family", Damien told him.

"Charlie, you're going to have to be serious while doing this", Peter explained.

"Good, well since I'm not doing this, I don't have to be serious huh? Everybody wins", she walks out leaving Damien and Peter at a loss. But Peter wasn't ready to give up. When he went after her he finally found her on a bench by the soccer field.

"Charlie", Peter said.

"Peter", Charlie acknowledged him.

"Look, I'm only gonna say this once. I know that you've been going through something, and you know I'm always here if you need me, but this isn't the way to go about it", he told her. She looked him up and down before turning her head back to the field.

"Charlie we're all worried about you here, we're not trying to patronize you or be your best friend, we just want to help you".

"Yeah well, Peter as you can see I'm a little beyond help", Charlie bit back.

"Do you want to fail here? Huh? Do you wanna go back to the streets?" he waited for a response but got nothing. "Well I don't think you do, but you know I can't help you if you don't want to help yourself". With that he walked away hoping that he'd struck a chord with her.

"I can't believe Peter is making me do this questionnaire thing with Ryder. RYDER! Again!" Mac spoke about her obvious resentment towards Peter as the girls rested on their beds.

"Another 24 hours and you wont have to put up with any of us ever again", Kat pointed out.

"It sucks that you're leaving tomorrow", Shane sighed.

"Guys, we've been through this already, let's not do it again", Mac saw that the others were about to get sentimental again.

"I'm just saying we're gonna miss you", Shane explained.

"Yeah, like I didn't get that the first fifty times", Mac laughed.

"Well, I have to go see EZ about this questionnaire", Kat jumped up from her bed.

"Hey, wanna swap partners", Mac asked hopefully, even though she knew Kat's answer.

"No way", Kat said as she shut the door behind her. Mac lay back down on her bed sulkily.

"I sware I'm gonna kill him after this. You know what his favorite movie is?" Mac asked Shane. "Take a guess".

"Taxi Driver, all guys love Taxi Driver", Shane insisted.

"Dare Devil", Mac told her.

"Dare Devil? You mean nylon wearing, Ben Affleck Dare Devil?"

"Yup", Mac said simply.

"Huh", Shane trying hard not to laugh. "So, you paid him out about it right?"

"Oh yeah", Mac laughed.

The conversation was much less the same in the boy's dorm room as the guys told each other all the dirt on their partners.

"You know what she told me when I asked her the question, When was the last time you cried", Binna said speaking of Cristina.

"Ooh Ooh when she tried on her skirt and found that she was now a size 10", Patrick guessed as the others laughed.

"You know it's sad but your close", Binna said as they heard a knock on the door. As Damien got up and answered it, Binna continued. Damien was surprised at who he saw. Before she gave him a chance she was talking.

"Hey, my names Charlotte Andrea Christensen, I'm 17 years old from California, my hobbies include music sports and reading, my favorite band is in fact the Killers, favorite movie is Grease, the best thing to ever happen to me is coming to Horizon, the worst thing that could ever happen to me right now, would be is if I were to get kicked out for being an arrogant ass", Charlie finally stopped for a breath. As she waited for a response she noticed Damien just stared at her. He either didn't know what to do next or as just letting her stew. "Alright look, truth is I need this grade probably just as much as you so lets just try and get it over with". Again Damien just stared at her.

"Guys, I'll be back later, I'm going to the mess hall", he grabbed his jacket and headed out with Charlie.

Ezra and Kat were way into their questions as they sat on the grassy field.

"How many questions do we have left", Kat asked.

"Uh, 2 pages", Ezra flipped over the pages for his answer.

"Well, there not gonna do themselves I guess", Kat figured.

"What are you going to do with your life once you graduate from Horizon"; Ezra asked reading from the paper.

Kat thought a minute before answering. "You know what? I think this is what I wanna do".

"Questionnaires", Ezra was confused.

"No, I mean this, counseling, helping people find themselves", Kat explained.

"You know I can see you as a councilor", Ezra told her.

"Ok, what about you", Kat asked.

Ezra sighed. "Uh, philosiphist, historian, scientist, I could make a good accountant".

"I'll see you when I need my taxes done", Kat laughed.

"What? Not me?"

"Definitely not you, you've got way too much of and imagination to be stuck behind a desk telling people about there financial screw ups", Kat said still laughing.

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you", Ezra smiled.

"Welcome".

In the mess hall, there was a lot of talking going on as usual. In the corner sat Damien and Charlie.

"Ok, question number 9. When you were 5, what did you wanna be when you grew up", Charlie asked.

"Fireman, Policeman, if all else failed a pro sportsman".

"Just pro sportsman, nothing specific?" Charlie asked.

"I was 5, I wasn't choosy", Damien pointed out.

"I always wanted to be a pro football player. I got paid out so much in my county but I didn't care. They didn't even have a girls team", Charlie told him.

"Not surprising there", Damien said, "Well you must have done something about it, you're too good to have never played for a team".

"My mom", she began, "she petitioned to let me join the guys team. Then when they didn't go for it she threatened to expose the coach".

"Expose the coach?" Damien asked confused.

"He was hooking up with the umpire", she told him simply.

"What, was he married or something?" he still wasn't getting the point.

"Oh no, no he wasn't married", she said secretively.

"Well, what then?"

"Well, how many female football umpires do you see?" she said as he finally realized what she was saying.

"Jesus, you mean he was gay", Damien smiled at the thought.

Charlie smiled. "Woulda been the scandal of the year. My mom was almost disappointed when he let me on the team".

At the gazebo, Binna was getting frustrated with Cristina. He thought he knew what he was in for; working with her but this hadn't even come close. They had been there for an hour and had only done one page. This was no surprise to Binna, considering Cristina's constant complaining.

"Ugh, my face is so gross", she said as she used her hands to hold back her hair. "Cant we go inside, its so windy out here, its doing nothing for my hair".

"Focus please", Binna said almost like a robot, "I know there's nothing between your eyes except a whole lot of air, but I kinda got things to do and I don't want to be out here forever either".

"I need cleanser, my face is so pasty right now", she continued not taking anything from Binna's comments. "Its ok for you, you don't care what kind of creatures are living on your face". To Cristina surprise Binna reached down and picked some dirt of the ground, before smudging into her face.

"Ugh, what did you do that for", she brushed of the dirt.

"Its ok, dirt's good for your skin, I read it in last months Cosmo", Binna joked.

Mac was alone in her dorm when there was a knock on the door. She had been expecting Ryder for over half an hour but she was still pretty happy when he hadn't turned up on time. She figured that was less time that she would have to cringe.

"Well, this is rather cozy isn't it", Ryder opened the door before Mac got up from her bed. "I thought we were going to the mess hall like before, but no, this is much better, more intimate. What better place to get to know each other but in ones own bedroom".

"Yeah", she said with disgust, "Lets just get this over with, shall we".

"Ok, what are you afraid of right now", Ryder asked reading from the page.

"Right now? I'm afraid you might try a move on me again. I guess after last time, I'm a little paranoid", she said sarcastically.

"For someone who wants to get this over with, the jokes are flying out", Ryder smiled.

"I wasn't joking".

"Mackenzie, Mackenzie, Mackenzie", Ryder chuckled as he paced around the room. "You know I can read you like a book".

"What are you talking about", she asked exhaustedly.

"What are you really afraid of?"

"Oh, you think you know? Well why don't you tell me Ryder".

"In less than 24 hours you are going to be on your way back to Winnipeg and you're terrified", he explained tauntingly.

"Believe it or not, most kids here are waiting for the day when they get to go home, and guess what? My day has come. I couldn't be happier", she told him.

"Suit yourself, but we all know the truth".

Patrick and Shane were the last pair to start their questionnaires.

"What is the most beneficial thing to have ever happened to you", Shane asked.

"Coming to Horizon", Patrick answered short and sweet. Both his and Shane's idea of getting this over with was answering the questions with barely more than a sentence.

"Ok, when was the last time you told somebody your inner most feelings?"

"Last night when Ryder was being an ass", Patrick said.

"Yeah I think they want your answer to maybe have a little more depth", Shane laughed.

"Oh you want depth?" Ok next time I'll flatten him so bad that he'll be 6 feet under. Is that enough depth?"

Mac and Ryder were having a much-needed break. As Ryder watched football on TV, Mac was deep in her own thoughts.

"You know what I miss? Arsenal and Man United battling it out on the field", Ryder rambled, "I've gotta tell you, you havnt seen a real game of football till you've seen them play".

Mac wasn't paying any attention to Ryder. She was thinking about going home.

"Mackenzie, hello, are you home?" Ryder clicked his fingers in front of her face trying to get attention.

"What?" she yelled angrily.

"Calm down, jeez", Ryder told her. "Oh I know what this is about. "You're thinking about that question before, the one about what your afraid of".

"Actually I'm thinking about how great it's going to be when I see the back of you", Mac said menacingly.

"Ah, still in denial are we?"

"Leave me alone Ryder", Mac got off of her bed and walked out.

"You know I don't get you", Cristina told Binna as he wrote on his piece of paper. "You seem normal, not like the other kids here".

"A lot of people say the same about you", Binna replied exhaustedly.

"So, what was it? Depression, family issues, mom pushing you too hard?"

"It was drugs ok", he answered not telling her the whole truth.

"Come on, everybody here did drugs, but they all had other issues too," Cristina said.

"Yeah well, welcome to the new breed of delinquents", he said blandly.

"I'll tell you about me if you tell me about you", she offered.

"No".

"Why not?"

"Because I already know about you. You told everyone like the first day you got here like it was nothing to you", he told her.

"Well there you go, you owe it to me", she said.

"I can't help it if you've got a big mouth", he said. She decided to wait a minute or two before she continued to bate him. "How is it so easy for you to admit that your screwed?"

She thought about her answer seriously. "Nobody's perfect. Not even my mother. Its all fake", she told him before he slouched back on the gazebo seat.

The Cliffhangers had been hard at work for a few hours and it was now nighttime.

"Its pitch black out here", Kat looked up at the dark sky that was lit up by a series of bright stars. "Moon reveals yourself".

"I don't think it can hear you", Ezra joked.

"Maybe we should go inside", Kat suggested.

"Hey, you ever wonder what you'd be like if there was no Horizon?" Ezra asked as she was cleaning all there papers up.

"Yeah, sure all the time", Kat said simply.

"Where would you be?"

Kat thought about it for a minute before answering. "At my friends house, sleeping on the floor, getting high, just counting down the days until somebody noticed. What about you?"

"I was asking you", Ezra teased.

"No you weren't. You were asking me to ask you", Kat said wisely as he smiled at how well she knew him. "So, where would you be?"

He hesitated to tell her even though he knew his answer. "Dead", he said simply after taking his time. She looked up at him sadly.

"EZ", she said softly, embracing him.

"Ok, what are 3 things you want to get out of Horizon High", Shane was still asking the questions first.

"I want to stay clean, I want to get a cushy job so I can earn enough money to take my mam back to Dublin, and I guess I want her to be proud of me", Patrick answered seriously for the first time today.

"Your moms proud of you, Pat", Shane tried to reassure him.

"Last time I saw her she was terrified of me. Look when my da left I gave her hell, I blamed her for him walking out. Then I did some stuff that I'm not proud of, and I juts, I just think if I get a good job and take her back home, she might find a way to forgive me", Pat thick Irish accent came out.

"Money and a cushy job cant buy happiness, Pat", Shane told him, "And as for your mom forgiving you, I'm sure she already has".

It was getting late by this time and the mess hall had quietened down substantially since Damien and Charlie had arrived.

"Ok, uh, when did you realize you needed help", Damien asked Charlie.

She thought about it for a minute. "I never did. I mean, not until I got here. It was you, actually", she explained, as he looked up interested. "I'd just got out of the infirmary, after you found out I'd been cutting. And you gave me that pep talk about how everything always works out, It was from a TV show but it still helped. You just, you made me think that, you know I could beat this, I could if I tried. I needed to try".

"What about the night after? Why'd you take those pills", he asked questioningly.

She hesitated. "I can't tell you that".

"Why not"

"Because I just cant", she said defensively.

"Tell me", he urged.

She looked at him before shrugging. "No".

"So then tell me this, who was the guy?"

"Why are you doing this, why are you bringing this up now", she asked him sadly.

"I need to know, ok. I don't know why, I just do".

"Its just a name", she told him.

"So then tell me".

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe I don't wanna talk about it, you know maybe it hurts me too", Charlie said aggravated.

"Well it couldn't have hurt that much otherwise you wouldn't have done it", he said icily. She was clearly hurt as she got up. "I'm going to bed, excuse me".

"No, not until you tell me the truth", he blocked her way.

"Is this some kind of male pride thing? You gonna go hunt him down, see if his prettier than you", she said blandly.

"Don't flatter yourself", he told her. Did I know this guy, is that why you wont tell me?"

"He's name was Brian Atwell, ok. You didn't know him", she finally gave in and told him. But she knew this wouldn't be the last of this conversation.

"That's the guy that got taken to juvie", he pointed out.

"Yeah what can I say, juvie's hot man", she said in a tone similar to Cristina's.

"What a skank", he scoffed.

"Don't call me that", she bit back quickly, "You don't know me, and you know nothing."

"So tell me, how can I begin to know anything about you when you wont talk to me", he asked clearly annoyed.

"Why should tell you anything", she stood up from the couch, yelling. "The first thing you don't wanna hear, you throw it back in my face. I'm screwed up ok. I've told you this time and time again, and that's why you could never really know me because weather you realize it or not, you don't really want to", she said almost scared she'd said too much. She was so annoyed and worked up that she didn't care anymore. The two now had an audience including Pat, Shane, Kat, Ezra, Binna and Cristina.

"Yes I do. I want to understand I want to know why you did this", he yelled.

"And I've already told you, he was there, it happened, end of story".

"No that's not end of story", he interrupted her yelling over the top.

"Just go away", she pushed him frustratedly. Any minute she knew she was going to crumble and let everything out. She was already trying hard to fight the tears.

"No, I'm not just gonna go away", he fought back not realizing her sudden rage.

"Go, I don't want to talk about this with you", she started to cry. "I hate you, I hate you". Damien was shocked as she jumped up from the couch hysterically. "I hate you".

"Charlie…" he didn't know what to say or do. He was at a loss. She ran out of the mess hall, him following her. Kat and Ezra heard them yelling from the gazebo. Then they saw the crowd that had formed behind Charlie and Damien. Damien grabbed on to her shoulder.

"Please just go, please", she was pleading with him. She knew she'd said to much and she didn't want to say anymore. As he pulled her in trying to restrain her from walking any further she started hitting him. "Get away from me, go", she said shaking. He had his arms around her, almost like a bare hug to try to stop her from hitting him in the chest. But she wouldn't stop. She kept punching him and punching him. He was worried about her. "Please let me go, please, go away", she continued punching him until he grabbed hold of her wrists. She struggled to hit him but she still managed weakly.

"Charlie, stop", he told her as he pulled her in to him in order for her to stop but she kept going, hitting him, although getting weaker every time. He put his arms around her as she slowed down on the punching. Crying forcefully she fell to the ground taking him with her.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm messed up", she repeated.

"Charlie, what…?"

"I'm sorry, he made me, he made me, I'm so sorry", she continued saying it over and over. He looked at her understanding before wrapping his arms back around her. He held her rocking her back and forward, just sitting on the grass, while the audience watched with pity.

"Its ok, Its ok", he said calming her down.

Later at the gazebo Mac was sitting alone when Ryder approached.

"Your still up", he commented. "I would have thought you'd be in bed ready to go tomorrow".

"Go away Ryder", she told him not even looking in his direction.

"Are you crying", he said as he heard something strange in her voice.

"No"

"You are crying. Look if its about what I said before, don't listen to me alright, I a shit stirrer, you know that", he said.

"I have never listened to you, Ryder, not once, but what you said before got me thinking. And its true. I'm terrified of leaving tomorrow."

Ryder sat down beside her to comfort her. "Ok don't tell anyone I said this but, I think your gonna be alright".

"Are you trying to be nice to me", she asked confused.

"Me? Wouldn't dream of it, I've got a reputation to keep up you know", he joked sarcastically.

"Yeah didn't think so", she smiled.

Kat and Ezra were in the mess hall, discussing that of today's events.

"I just can't believe it. I mean everybody thought nothing of that whole thing with Charlie and the guy from the docks. We all just thought she must not have cared for Damien enough", Kat said.

"I know", Ezra agreed. "I feel kind of bad". He hadn't really been paying much attention to this. He had other things on his mind.

"Something up, Ezra", Kat noticed.

"No, I'm just thinking", he replied still in another world. "Peter found my birthparents".

"Wow, that's great", Kat expresses her obvious happiness for Ezra.

"Yeah, I don't know if I really want to meet them, I mean they gave me up for a reason", he explained.

"You wanna know what I think? I think that they could be the worst people in the world, or they could be the nicest. If you don't go and find out, you're always going to wonder".

Damien and Charlie had been sitting at the gazebo for a while now. Not saying much. Just thinking about everything.

"Do you ever wonder what it would be like to be normal", Charlie asked suddenly.

"I think I've been to busy trying so hard to be normal to realize I'm not", Damien replied.

"I always wanted to be normal, like everybody else. You know, have parents who care about you, maybe a dog, brother or sister. But simple, you know?"

"Everybody always thought that my family was normal. I think even my dad. But then he was blind to what was going on around him", Damien said.

"When I first met you I thought you would have had the perfect family", Charlie smiled.

"Yeah well, guess not", he said. They sat in silence for another few minutes before Charlie got up.

"I guess I should go to bed", she said.

"Hey", Damien said before she walked off.

"Mmm-hmm".

"The B, on your ankle. Brian?"

She looked at him remembering. "Yep", she said simply before walking off.

Thanx


	13. Chapter 13

Higher Ground

The High Life

Chapter The Goodbye Girl

It was a sad day for the Cliffhangers as they watched Mac leave Horizon. She had been there for over a year and she felt like she was leaving her home and family. She came so close to demanding to peter that she was staying last night and even though she thought better of it, she was still terrified of going home to her life in the real world. As the Cliffhangers hugged her and said there goodbyes, she breathed in the fresh Canadian air. She looked around taking in all the sights, as if her mind was taking photographs of each and every thing. She never wanted to forget her time at Horizon and she doubted she was ever going to. She looked over to her mother who was waiting by her car. Jill wasn't known for her patience and Mac could tell she wanted to get a move on. As she hugged Ryder, the last of the Cliffhangers to say goodbye, she remembered that he, of all the people in Horizon, was the one to comfort her and get her through her last night in the mountains.

"Your mother doesn't own you ok", Ryder whispered in her ear, "Not really". At that moment she felt the most intense pain she thought she could ever feel and she wanted Ryder to hold her forever and tell her that she was going to be ok.

As she waved to everyone from the inside of the car she realized that although, when coming to Horizon she thought it would be the worst experience of her life, in actual fact, it would probably have been one of the very best. She knew that all the people she had met, would be her lifelong friends.

Peter sat down at his desk as Sophie entered his office. As she smiled to him she got the distinct feeling Peter was in one of his detective moods again.

"I'm worried", he told her simply as he threw down a folder full of documents on his desk.

"About what?"

"About who", he corrected her. "Charlie. She's hiding something, I know it".

"She's hiding more. Jeez, how much can one kid go through?" Sophie asked.

Just as Peter was about to continue there was a knock on the door. Before they could even say 'Come in', David Ruxton barged on through.

"Well, well, well. You two look happy. Honeymoon period already over huh? I was looking for my invitation, I guess it must have got lost in the mail", David joked. Sophie laughed as she gave him a hug.

"Oh my god, David, what are you doing here", she smiled.

"See, that's what you hope to see when you travel 3000km from home in a bus full of drunks", he commented.

"Its good to see you", Peter hugged him before asking seriously "Are you doing well?"

"Oh, yeah, my probation officer says I'm doing fantastic", he joked again showing some of that humor that Peter and Sophie had begun to miss. "Hey, where's my little buddy Freaken?"

"Oh, I just saw him, he's outside helping the Rock climbers chop wood", Sophie said.

Sure enough, Ezra was outside with the rock climbers. David approached him from behind.

"Eh Freaken", he called tom Ezra in his old offensive manner, "Who taught ya how to chop wood?"

Ezra straightened his back up letting his axe drop to his side, his face showing confusion.

"I'm sorry, I thought we were over all the name calling. Must be just you idiots out there who still like to think there in the 3rd grade, huh?" he said turning around to face his protagonist, thinking it was one of the rock climbers.

"Holy crap", Ezra's stunned expression was obvious as he dropped the axe down on the ground and went to shake his hand. "David, what are you doing here?"

Ezra was genuinely pleased to see him even after all the arguments they shared last year. Shortly after the Morp, both guys had buried the hatchet with each other and realized that they actually enjoyed each others company. Just like David had done with all the other Cliffhangers he had spent his time at odds with. The two exchanged the famous buddy hug.

"How are you?" Ezra asked.

"Not bad, not bad, how bout you?" David kept his answers vague.

"Uh, well, I found my parents", Ezra didn't waste any time on filling him in.

"You're serious?" David said surprised. "Well, how did you find 'em?"

"Well, let's not go into to much detail, I haven't seen them yet. I just know where they are", Ezra explained.

"Well, are you gonna contact them or…" David trailed off.

"Well, I guess I kinda have to. I mean, I want to, I just… Anyway, what about you, what's going on, what are you doing here?"

"Ah I pissed my dad off and he kicked me out", David answered boredly. "I'm ok, you know, I got some money saved up, I'm on my own, I'll be fine".

"You wanna stay here don't you", Ezra asked knowing David too well to believe he had come all this way just to see a friend.

"What? No! I told you I'm doing things on my own", David told him a little too quickly.

"What are you gonna tell Peter?" Ezra asked ignoring what he had just said.

"I don't know. Do you want to tell him?" he asked as Ezra gave him a look and then smiled. "Come on, man, what am I gonna do? Hey Peter, I'm back! Third time lucky huh? Whattaya say we go another round" David joked.

Ezra smiled. "Well, if you don't win him with your charm, you probably aint gonna win him at all".

"Aww, are you saying I got charm?" David smiled cheekily.

"To me you got as much charm as a skunk, but the guys a councilor, he try's see the good in everybody", Ezra laughed.

In the girls dorm Kat and Shane were sprawled out in there beds. The day wasn't even half over but for them, it had gone on forever. One of their best friends had just left that morning and it had left them feeling miserable.

"This place seems so empty", Shane complained.

"I know", Kat agreed. "It's so weird. She's really gone and she's not coming back".

"Good riddance, I say", Cristina came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped over her wet hair.

"Cristina, join civilization and act like a human being for once", Shane snapped.

"Mac's gone. There's no point acting like it's the end of the world", Christina remarked.

"Well, I guess now we know what you want us to do when you leave", Shane said.

Peter was still in his office when David came through the door.

"Hey David, did you find Ezra all right?" Peter asked.

"Yep, yep, just where you said he was", David stood over Peter's desk quietly; sorting out what he was going to say in his head.

"Something you want, David?" Peter asked noticing that David looked uncomfortable.

"Yeah, Peter, I haven't exactly been honest with you", David blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Oh, you haven't?" Peter didn't even look up from his documents. He knew what David was about to say.

"No, see, you know how I told you I was only passing through", David said.

"I remember it perfectly", Peter answered in a nonchalant tone.

"Yeah that's a lie", David said quickly.

"Oh, is it really", Peter wasn't surprised at all.

"Yeah, and you know how I told you I was only here to see Ezra", he continued.

"Mmm-hmm"

"Yeah that's not completely true either", David told him.

"Hmm", Peter put his pen down on the desk, "So why are you here, David?"

"All right, you know why. Stop making me do all the work", David finally said.

Peter looked up to David for the first time but still said nothing.

"I wanna come back", David rolled his eyes.

Peter got up out of his chair and walked around the room, not letting David know what he was thinking.

"Feel free to say something anytime", David said nervously. Peter said nothing and just kept pacing around. "Ok, times up, speak, man".

"You let us down twice", Peter finally spoke.

"That I did", David looked down to the floor.

"The second time around, I thought you were gonna make a go of it", Peter sat back in his chair.

"And I was. I just got…distracted", a short smile appeared on his face, and then quickly faded when Peter saw him and David realized it wasn't the time.

"Then again, you left", Peter continued.

"You gotta get it wrong sometimes, its how we grow", David commented.

"Let me talk it over with Soph", Peter finally said.

"Sophie, yeah, I like Sophie, she's nice. Good at giving second chances", David joked as peter gave him a disapproving look. "Or, you know, third…chances."

"Leave it with me".

It was lunch time and most of the Cliffhangers were in the cafeteria. Shane was asleep in her room and Ezra was still with David.

"You know what they should do?" Patrick said, "They should take us out for dinner".

"Where? St. Agnus Hotel?" Kat laughed.

"Well, its better than eating gruel at a teenage loony bin", Ryder said.

"Hey guys", Ezra sat down at his chair, David sitting next to him. "This is David, he was here last year, David, this is Ryder, Cristina, Binna, Kat and Patrick".

"Hey David, are you just visiting", Cristina began flirting.

"Uh, I don't know, we'll see", he tried to restrain himself from laughing.

"If you have any time later, I'd be happy to show you around", she continued.

"Uh, you know, I think I can figure it out", he told her.

"Yeah, you know he was here last year", Ezra repeated.

"Some things have changed", she insisted.

"Yeah, the big garbage bin has moved about an inch", Patrick laughed. "You know, some people might find that a little confusing".

"Shut up, Patrick", Cristina snapped, "Your so annoying".

"D'ya know, I get that a lot, I don't know what it is", Patrick teased.

"Now you're just talking to make sounds", Cristina said.

"Ah, nothing like an argument in the middle of the day", Ezra joked.

Sophie and Peter had been in the office for an hour trying to figure out what they should do about David. They were still confused about his situation and weren't sure if they could help him.

"So what do you think?" Peter asked for Sophie's advice.

"David back at Horizon", she said thinking it over in her head. "I think it'll be a challenge".

"Yes it will be", peter agreed.

"Well, maybe it'll be different this time. I mean he seems like he's changed, he's a lot more mature, he came back himself too, I mean nobody was forcing him this time", Sophie pointed out. "Did he say why he wanted to come back?"

"No", Peter answered, "But I guess it's got something to do with his dad".

"And he's clean?"

"Yeah, which brings me to another point. I mean why is he here? Because he is clean, and there doesn't seem to be anything psychological going on", Peter said.

"Peter, that doesn't mean there's not", Sophie told him.

"I know, I just, its making me wonder, is David having problems or does he just need a place to stay? I hate to sound heartless, Soph, but, where not a boarding school", Peter said.

"Cant we just give him the benefit of the doubt", Sophie suggested, "Think about it, his father kicked him out of the house, he has nowhere to go, there's obviously something wrong here".

As Peter thought about this, the phone rang.

"Hello", he answered. Sophie sat on the desk interested to see who it was. "Yes that's right…You're in St Agnus now? Uh yes, sure that'll be great…Ok, well, we'll see you soon", Peter hung up the phone as Sophie gave him a curious look.

"Uh that was Janine Smith", Peter told her.

"Who?"

"Ezra's biological mother", he explained.

"Wow", Sophie was stunned, "And there here, in St Agnus now?"

"Yeah, there coming up tomorrow morning", Peter said.

"Well, we gotta tell Ezra", Sophie said.

The next morning, Ezra woke up feeling nervous. He was happy he was finally going to meet his real parents, but he was afraid that this could all be some sort of twisted joke.

"Do I look ok?" Ezra had dresses himself up in a suit, complete with a tie and newly made over hair.

"EZ, lose the tie, lose the suit, lose the Frankenstein hair man, just lose everything, these are your parents, it's not the president", Binna advised.

"Well, I wanna look good, I've never met these people, I don't know what their like", Ezra said.

"Well, there's one thing you do know, and it's that they aren't Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles", Patrick laughed.

"Look man, they know you're at Horizon right? A school full of drug addicts and petty criminals. They're probably over thinking that you're a saint", Damien told him.

"Yeah, they're probably picturing you with tattoos and nose rings", Binna suggested.

"And wont they get a surprise when they see me", Ezra smiled.

"The good son who bares a striking resemblance to that butler in the Adams family, minus the whole green thing", Patrick said.

Ezra pretended to laugh. "Ohoh, you're on a role."

"I think you should stop thinking about what you look like and start worrying about weather or not there gonna like having a junkie in there family", Ryder pointed out.

"Uh, reformed junkie. And they wanted to see him. He's already got there acceptance", David said.

"Thank you", Ezra told him, "Now, what shoes should I wear?"

"You know, chopping wood is great exercise", Shane said proudly as she pounded into a stump with her axe.

"Yeah, especially when the axe comes flying down onto your toe", Charlie laughed, "That'll keep you running for hours".

As the girls continued to joke around the boys approached.

"Presenting the newly made over", Patrick begun, "Its Carson Kresley, girls". Patrick said in a high pitched voice as if he was a 13 year old girl going to see her favorite boy band.

"So, I took longer than usual to get ready, now your saying I'm gay", Ezra asked.

"You don't scrub up too badly", Shane said.

"Well, he had some help from Jai and Kyan over here", David pointed out to Binna and Damien. "Ted and Tom are on vacation".

Ezra smiled as a brown Camero came up the driveway. As they watched two people get out Ezra knew that was his parents.

It was a warm, sunny afternoon as Charlie sat out on a bench by the docks. She hadn't spoken to Damien or any of the Cliffhangers since the events of the other night and she was feeling uneasy about the whole situation. Damien had asked her to meet him at 1pm. He was late. She had no idea what she was going to say to him and she didn't even know if she could look him in the eye without balling. As he walked up she gave him a smile. He sat down beside her. There was silence for a moment as they gathered their thoughts. He was obviously just as uneasy as her.

"Nice day", he commented.

"Yep", she replied nervously.

"Good weather", he continued with the small talk.

"Mmm hmm", she mumbled as a small smile crept across her face.

"I'm sorry", she said finally.

"Why? It wasn't your fault", she told him.

"Yeah it was", he said. "I didn't believe you".

"Um, yeah, actually you did", she smiled. "You believed every word that came out of my mouth. I'm the one that lied. I was ashamed. And I didn't wanna hurt you". Damien looked at her trying to read what was on her face and in her eyes. "I guess I did that anyway".

They sat together for a minute acknowledging what had just been said. Damien reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo of a young woman. Charlie looked over at the photograph. She knew who the woman was. She wanted to ask him why he had a photo of her in his wallet but she couldn't let him know her secret.

"Who is that?" she asked.

"My father's wife", he answered simply. "Denise. I had just turned 11 when she married my dad".

"Damien, you don't have to do this", she interrupted.

"My life, is one big secret, one lie. Nobody knows who I am, you know that? Not in this whole world, not my father, not my mother, not Peter, nobody. I'm sick of it", he told her bluntly.

"Damien, please don't, don't do this", Charlie said, almost in tears. She couldn't handle hearing this. She knew she was being selfish and she wanted to help Damien but she was so scared of what might come out.

"No! I want you to know me. I want…just…I need you to know who I am", he urged.

She was silent for a moment, not knowing what to say or do next. So she said the only thing she could say.

"Ok"

Binna, Patrick and David were sitting in their dorm room waiting for Ezra to tell them the details of his biological parents. After waiting for half an hour Patrick had decided to start a new topic of conversation.

"So, I was lying there, on the floor, and she comes in and says 'Hi, my names Lauren, what's yours'. And I was like 'woah, step back, are you talking to me?'" Patrick said.

"Oh, so she was hot?" David asked.

"Oh yeah", Patrick replied. "Anyway, so we got to talking and she turned out to be really cool".

"Until you met her boyfriend", Binna pointed out.

"Please, I'm trying to tell David a story here", Patrick exclaimed.

"And you did. A girl came up to you, you started talking to her, you developed a little bit of a crush, and then you met her boyfriend", Binna said blandly.

"You make me sound so pathetic", Patrick sighed.

Binna smiled as Ezra came through the door.

"Oh hey, how was it?" David asked.

"Um, yeah it was good", Ezra replied, "Really good".

"Good. You've really painted a picture for me, I feel like I was there", David joked.

"It was great, ok. They were really nice, we ate burgers and they bought me a chocolate milkshake and then we played a bit of pool", Ezra said more enthusiastically. And he was excited. Although he was still in shock of finding his real parents, he had had a great time with them and he hoped they would stick around a bit longer.

Some people would say that Charlie was made of steel. And for the most part, she didn't let anyone believe she wasn't. Even though she knew, herself, that she was so close to falling apart. This was never true, more so than when it became apparent that Damien wanted to tell her his life story. Damien was the one person that she knew could break her.

"I was 9 when they met. My dad was still married to my mom, but I guess he didn't care about that. She was his secretary. I never liked her, I don't even know why, I mean she was nice, she…It was just, something just didn't sit right with her, I don't know, maybe that's what it was, maybe she was too nice." Damien had obviously been pondering this for a while and rehearsing it over and over in his head. Then it was my 11th birthday. I remember being annoyed cos I didn't have a party, you know. My dad didn't think it was appropriate considering my mom had just left and…everything else. Anyway it was about 11 o'clock at night, my dad had let me stay up late, Denise whispered in my ear. She said she had a surprise for me and it was waiting for me in my room. So I went upstairs, opened my door, but I didn't see anything. No gift, no card. I asked her 'Where's my gift?' You know what she said? She said 'right here'." Damien looked at Charlie, tears forming in his eyes and in hers. "I thought it was a joke, you know. I thought my dad was just gonna come out…but he didn't. She sat me on my bed, her beside me, she started…she just", he wiped his eyes roughly with the back of his hand. "I tried to say something, I tried to tell her no, but she just, she, she told me 'what my dad didn't know, wouldn't hurt him'. I wanted to tell him, I wanted to scream out, but I couldn't. It was like I froze…"

"Damien". As he looked up at her, tears streaming down his face, she knew there was nothing she could say.

"I didn't know what to do", he breathed heavily trying to stop the tears from falling down his face as he looked at her. "I didn't know anything".

Before he said another word, she pulled him into a hug as she gently kissed his cheek. He reached over and pulled her tighter as though he would never let her go.

David had been summoned to Peter's office and he knew what it was about. Peter was about to tell him if he was here to stay or that he was kicked out of another place for the 2nd time in a week.

"So you promise us that you are going to stay for the remainder of the year, you'll complete all your school work and you'll stick to the rules", Sophie asked David.

"Yes I do" David told her nervously.

"We're serious about this David, no more wasting time", Peter joined in.

"I know, I'm here for good", David assured them.

"Then", Peter took a deep breath, "Then you can stay".

"YES!" he yelled victoriously.

"Now we've put you in with the Cliffhangers as you've gotten to know them over the last couple of days", Peter told him.

"Let's not remember I was the Cliffhanger God last year", David was cocky as Peter showed him the door.

"Don't push it", Sophie came him a word of advice before he left.

As the sun was setting down at Horizon, Damien and Charlie were still at the dock. There had been silence between them for about an hour now, but not awkward silence.

It was the silence of two people who had shared there deepest, darkest secrets with each other. It was a comfortable silence as they sat and watched the water beneath them.

"I haven't told anybody what I've told you. Peter maybe, but not because I wanted to", Damien told her as she layed her head on his shoulder.

"You know, its gonna be alright", she told him.

He gave a bitter laugh. "Isn't that just the cop out of the century"?

She smiled at how much he reminded her of herself. "Shut up, ok. Look, somebody told me once, something I don't think I'll ever forget. Grief lasts forever, and if it doesn't, then its not true grief. I know it sounds stupid, I don't even know if I believe it myself, but, once you stop fighting it and just accept it as a part of you, it's not such a bad thing. It'll still hurt; it'll still tear you apart but in a different way".

"You've been watching episodes of Dawson's Creek haven't you?" he joked for the first time that day.

"No", she smiled, "Look, my point is, it's the pain of grief that hurts so much. But the pain your feeling can't last forever. It won't. Your body can't take it. It knows that if you don't get over it, it's going to kill you. And it doesn't want that." Damien was listening now and he seemed to be getting more and more convinced. "So it makes you get over it. And that doesn't mean forgetting it. It just means reducing the pain to a more tolerable level. A level that doesn't destroy you".

"I don't know if I can believe all that", he stood up and walked up to the edge of the dock.

"Gotta admit", she stood up and followed behind him. "It's a nice concept".

He turned around to face her. "Are you getting over it?"

She smiled, sighing and breathing in the cool air. "I think so. Gradually. It takes time".

"It scares me", he said turning back towards the water. "I've been living with this for so long. I don't know what it'd be like to live without it".

She walked over to him and rested her head on his shoulder, folding her arms to keep from getting to cold. He looked down at her as she looked at the sunset. Without thinking he took her chin with his hand and lifted her face up to his. He stroked her lips with his finger before gently kissing her. For a moment she let him.

Ok that's it, hope you liked it. More reviews people! Thanks


	14. Chapter 14

Higher Ground

The High Life

Chapter

Love, Lies and Limo's

The Cliffhangers were sitting on the bench together enjoying the fresh air. All of them had had a lot on there mind lately and figured the free time they had would be best to spend thinking mostly about nothing.

As they looked over to the field where some kids had taken up a game of soccer, Cristina came barging along ruining the silence.

"I've changed my mind", she told them as they all looked at her in exhaustion.

"Excellent", Charlie said boredly, "So does the new one work better". She couldn't help not making a crack.

"I don't get it", Cristina shook her head puzzled. "Whatever, so you know the other day when Peter made us choose 2 possible career moves that we'd like to do in the future? Well I chose hair dressing or make up artist. Anyway so I was talking to my mother on the phone and she said well, there's no money in those jobs, why don't you choose something more intellectual."

"And so the moral of the story is…" Binna said.

"Drum roll please", Ezra laughed.

"Seriously, I'm turning my career in a whole new direction", Cristina said.

"Forward", Charlie joked.

"I'm gonna be a lawyer", Cristina told them enthusiastically. The Cliffhangers tried to contain there laughter.

"Oh, and what kind of lawyer would that be?" Patrick asked, enjoying the conversation.

"Oh, just the normal kind, you know", Cristina asked.

"Well, you're off to a nice start", Charlie laughed.

"Well, gotta go study", Cristina took off in the other direction.

"Unbelievable", Shane stared as she walked away.

"I wonder what that is", David changed the subject as he looked over at the driveway as a black limo pulled up. The others looked as well.

"It's probably just a parent", Kat answered logically.

"Who would be stupid enough to pull into Horizon in a limo? The kids would have it trashed in no time", David said.

"Yeah, even Ryder wasn't stupid enough", Damien said.

"Oh well, guess we'll have to figure it out later. We've got group", Ezra began to lazily stand up. As they started walking off, Damien grabbed Charlie's hand and pulled her back to face him.

"Damien, we've got group", she told him knowing what he wanted to talk about.

"Are you avoiding me?" he asked quickly, not letting her say anything else.

She smiled. "Why would I be avoiding you", she knew exactly why.

"Do you really want me to answer that cos I think you can figure it out on your own", Damien replied.

She sighed. "I'm not avoiding you", she told him.

"We haven't talked in 3 days", he said.

"Yes we have", she said, "We're talking right now".

"I'm making you talk to me", he would not let up.

"I'm not avoiding you", she repeated.

"Yes you are", he almost yelled, "Look, if it's because of the kiss I apologized for that".

"I hadn't even thought about that", she lied.

"You haven't?" he was hurt.

"No".

"What? So, it just happened and then you block it out completely?" he asked her.

"No…I, god you analyze things way too much for a guy", she was stuck. She didn't know what to say.

"Oh, now you're calling me a girl", Damien said.

Charlie had to smile. Damien was starting to act crazy.

"You're smiling", he wanted answers.

She couldn't help laugh. "Damien, you're acting like a crazy person".

"Thank you", he said exasperated.

Finally she stopped laughing, keeping a small smile on her face. "Yes, ok, yes I thought about it".

"I knew it", Damien swung his arm up in victory. She reached for his arm and put it down again, laughing. Finally she sighed.

"Why did you kiss me, Damien?"

"Well, I…" he was dumbfounded. He was asking her questions not the other way around.

"You what?"

"I got… carried away", he told her quietly.

"Carried away with what?" she desperately wanted to know what he was thinking.

"With you", he blurted out. She looked up at him.

"You got carried away with me?"

He smiled. He'd already dug himself in, why not did himself deeper.

"I don't blame myself for kissing you", he said to her as she looked up, "I blame you for kissing me back".

She smiled at him as he walked back to the bench and sat down. She walked over to him, resting her head on his shoulder. The hopeless pair sat in silence.

In Peter's office the man from the limo had some important discussions ahead of him.

"So, what can I do for you", Peter asked, sitting on his chair.

"I'm here to see one of your students", the man said.

"Is this official business or personal", Peter was curious as to why a business man in a limo would come to see one of his students.

"Oh, it's personal", he answered. "I need to see Binna Radetchi".

In the boys dorm Binna had been sitting by himself when he heard a knock on the door. He opened it to find Peter and the man from the limo.

"Peter, come in", Binna ushered the 2 in.

"Hi Binna, can I talk to you?" Peter asked.

"I didn't do it", Binna said, a natural reaction of Binna's when seeing Russian men in limo's who want to talk to him.

"Didn't do what?" peter asked.

"Nothing, nothing, just um… going with the theme", he mumbled.

Binna followed the two men outside and into the mess hall.

"I'll uh, leave you guys alone", Peter walked off leaving Binna very nervously standing with the Russian.

As they sat in silence Binna gave a smile.

"So, um… are you seeing all the students", he asked.

"No, no, I'm here to see you", the man replied.

Binna laughed nervously. "Great".

"My names George."

"Cool", Binna didn't know what to say. "Look, I don't know what you're doing here but I haven't done anything. I mean, I've been locked up here for almost…"

"I'm your father", George blurted out as Binna's face dropped.

"My, my what?" he was no longer scared of this man. Just angry.

"My names George Radetchi and I'm your father", he repeated.

The two sat down at a table, in silence for a few minutes.

"You want water?" Binna asked.

"Sure", George answered. Binna stood up and walked over to the water cooler and got two plastic cups. He poured the drinks and sat back down again. Neither of them knew what to say as they stared into there water. Binna noticed a song on the radio that he knew and out of habit, starting singing quietly to it. After about a minute George and Binna realized that both were singing. George finally gave up and left.

Binna walked back to the dorm completely in another world. He had no idea what to think, feel, say or do and was confused about what would happen next. Damien was alone in the dorm when Binna walked in and fell on his bed, sprawling out over the covers.

"Hey Binna", Damien said. Binna hadn't even realized Damien was there."Binna?"

Finally Binna saw Damien but still wasn't showing any signs that he was sane.

"I'm Russian…. And I'm rich", Binna said, his head still in the clouds.

"I thought you were Turkish", Damien asked confused. "Oh and if by rich you mean the 20 cents in your drawer, too late, Ryder took it this morning".

Binna just looked at Damien the words 'I'm your father' going over and over in his head.

Roger had taken over Sophie's classes for the day and was running late for his lesson with the Cliffhangers.

As he came in the noise suddenly died down and the class could begin. He put down a book on the desk. He had been told the class had been reading it.

"Who can tell me about Charles Dickens Hard Times?" he began.

"Hard times. We know about them right, lads" Ryder joked as the rest of the class was torn between laughing and sounds of disgust.

"Ryder, I'm glad to see you've connected with Dickens, even at groin level", Roger could still hold his own.

"Now, what do you think Dickens is trying to imply…Kat?"

"Uh… he's highlighting the side effects of industrial revolution", Kat answered.

"Good. Would anybody like to elaborate", Roger waited for someone to say something. "Come on guys, you've all read this, now I have no problem keeping you all in for lunch".

Charlie rolled her eyes. "He's illustrating the dangers of allowing humans to become like machines", she said as the class listened. All eyes were on her and she had to admit she felt pressured. "He suggests that without compassion and imagination, life would be unbearable", she finished shyly.

"Good, very good. Now Patrick, could you read from chapter 13 please", Roger asked.

"No, I'm ok", Patrick replied cheekily.

"That was a question Patrick", Roger said.

Pat held the book up and got ready. "Shamizi shomza ni romoza".

"And what was that", Roger asked amused.

"Old English, I guess", Pat shrugged.

"Binna, take over, obviously Patrick is a little exhausted", Roger joked.

Lunchtime in the cafeteria was abuzz with chatter at the Cliffhangers table.

"So, anyone know who that guy is yet?" David asked.

"What guy?" Kat hadn't thought much about the man in the limo since he pulled up.

"You know, the limo", David refreshed her memory.

"Oh, I forgot all about that", she said taking a bite from her salad sandwich.

"Come on, I mean how many limos we see around here", David said.

"Maybe he's like, in the mob or something and one of the kids here made a few deals with him and now he's come to make them pay up", Ezra imagined.

"Likely story", Charlie shrugged.

"It could happen, I mean, it makes sense, some of the kids in here…"

"He's my father", Binna interrupted Ezra.

"What?" the group said almost in unison.

"He told me before", binna told them.

"Well, are you sure, I thought you said you never knew him", Shane asked.

"Oh Russian and rich, I get it now", Damien said to himself as he remembered what Binna had said before.

"Where is he now?" Ezra asked.

"I don't know, he freaked out and I haven't seen him since", Binna replied.

"He's after something", Ryder said simply.

"Always the skeptic aren't you Ryder", Shane scoffed.

"Well, someone has to be, this guy could be anyone", Ryder said.

"You should tell Peter", Shane suggested.

"I think he already knows", Binna told them.

"Well, then you should ask where he's staying", David said.

Charlie shook her head. "No, you should wait till he comes back. He's obviously here for a reason, he's not just gonna leave".

"Well, what if he takes it the wrong way and thinks you don't want to see him", Ezra asked.

"Well, maybe I don't wanna see him. Maybe Ryder's right, you know. I mean, he shows up out of nowhere telling me he's my father. He couldn't get away fast enough when he found out mom was pregnant. Why should I see him?" Binna said all in one breathe.

"Maybe you should ring your ma, see what she thinks", Patrick said.

"Yeah, maybe", Binna said.

Later that day Kat found Binna sitting by himself at the docks. She wondered if she should sit with him or leave him with his thoughts. Before she had time to leave he saw her approach.

"Planning on jumping?" she joked.

"Now that you mention it", he said as she sat down next to him. "Kat, what should I do?"

"I don't think you should be asking me that", Kat told him.

"Well, then who?"

"Yourself", she said, "You're the only one who can really decide".

He sighed. "I called my mom. She said the same thing".

"Smart woman", Kat said.

"If I see him and decide that he's still the same loser he was back then all this would be a waste of time, but if I do see him and decide he's not such a bad guy that'll suck even more", Binna tried to think things out logically.

"I don't understand", Kat was confused.

"He just took off, Kat, no goodbye to my mom, nothing, what he did to her", Binna sighed. "I want to hate him".

"So that's your decision? You don't want to see him?"

"No…I mean yes, I have no idea", Binna slouched down over the dock, looking at the water underneath him. No matter how many times he went over it in his head he always came back to the same spot. He was stuck.

In the mess hall Charlie was reading when Damien came in.

"Hey, what're you reading?" he asked as he fell on the couch opposite hers.

"The Modern World of Today", Charlie read the title then closed the book, focusing her attention on Damien.

"Good book?" he asked.

"Sure, if you like small minded jerks scrutinizing and complaining about how technological progress is ruining society", she stood up and got a drink of water from the cooler.

"You don't have to read it", Damien suggested.

"Yeah, well, I just can't tear myself away from it", she smiled. "So"

"So, I should let you get back to it", he said.

"No, no, stay", she stopped him from leaving, "I could use the company".

It was getting late and Binna and Kat were still at the docks talking.

"You know I think coming here was the best thing that ever happen to me", Binna said thoughtfully.

"You do?"

"Made me realize that my mom didn't deserve to be treated the way she was", he said, "All she ever did was try to make things the best she could. All I ever did was make it ten times harder for her".

"I'm sure that's not true", Kat said.

"Believe me, Kat, its true", Binna told her.

"She loves you Binna. It never mattered how angry or sad she got, you're still her son, and she's still your mother. And that's what it comes down to", Kat said. Binna and Kat sat in silence, thinking to themselves.

"That's one thing I love up here", Kat looked up at the sky.

"What?"

"The stars. Never saw stars like that back home", Kat smiled.

"Didn't think you were into that", Binna commented.

"My grandfather was and astrologist", she told him; "He loved the stars. He used to take me and my sister up to Lake Wisoda in Wisconsin, and point out all the stars and there constellations. He told me once, that if you looked up at them, I mean, really looked, then all your problems would be solved".

Binna smiled. "I don't know about that".

"I don't know. I kinda like the idea. If you look long enough it does kind of give out a sense that everything's gonna be alright", she smiled back at him. Suddenly his thoughts turned to only her. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. To his surprise, she let him. After a minute he pulled back and brushed her hair out of her eye.

"I think everything's gonna be alright", he smiled.

The next morning the girls woke up to the sound of Kat's chirpy voice.

"Good morning", she almost sang it.

"I don't know, is it", Charlie pulled her pillow over her head.

"It certainly is", Kat pulled the pillow away from Charlie.

"Could this rush of joyousness, be because of a certain Binna Radetchi?" Shane threw her bed covers away from her and sat up.

"Can't I just be happy?"

"Yes Kat, you can. Unfortunately, for the both us we are stuck with two pessimists", Cristina headed for the shower.

"I'm not a morning person, sorry", Shane said, "What's your excuse". She looked to Charlie.

"I'm not a… anytime of the day person", Charlie said.

"Come on guys, breakfast is in half an hour", Kat said hurriedly.

"Best not to miss that gruel", Shane joked as she moved off of the bed and to the wardrobe.

It was the first lesson of the day as the Cliffhangers walked into there English class. Sophie was waiting with her copy of Hard Times.

"Alright, guys, open your books up to chapter 14, Patrick, Roger told me how enthusiastic you were about reading last time, so why don't you show me your enthusiasm by reading the first page", Sophie began.

"Oh, sorry, Sophie but I can't. I didn't bring my contacts", he told her.

"Patrick, you don't have contacts, now no more excuses", she told him.

"Excuses? Wouldn't dream of it. But, I do feel a little sick, I think I might just go see Julie", Patrick raced out the door.

"Patrick?" Sophie called after him, and then looked at Ezra. "Ezra, if you will".

Charlie was suspicious of Patrick. Every time he had to read something he would think of some excuse. She decided to talk to him later.

The Cliffhangers had been on a break from classes and Ezra, Kat and Charlie were watching a movie when Patrick came in.

"What ya watching", he asked.

"Jumping jack Flash", Charlie didn't take her eyes of the screen.

"Ugh, I hated that movie", Patrick said.

Charlie gasped. "You've killed me pat, you truly have".

"Shh, he's counting", Ezra munched on some popcorn.

"Ohh, shh, I love the counting", Charlie focused on the TV screen.

"I'll leave you to it", Pat walked off, putting his head set on. As he sat over on a couch, Charlie remembered that she had o have a little chat to him. She walked over and sat next to him.

"So, read any good books lately", she asked.

"Yes, I have actually. Snow White. Didn't quite like the end though", pat joked.

"Ah, so you watched the movie then", Charlie said.

"Charlie that was a joke. Now excuse me, Jeff Buckley awaits", he put his head set back on.

"Pat, why do you always try to get out of reading in class", she asked carefully.

Patrick realized what Charlie was asking. "I don't like reading in class".

"Because you can't?"

"What? What makes you think I can't, look I'm not stupid if that's what you mean", he started to get frustrated.

"You're not stupid, Pat, I think you have dyslexia", she told him.

"So I'm stupid", Patrick said.

"No, look, I think you need to talk to peter, he can help you", she suggested.

"Yeah, no thank you, I'd rather not be humiliated", he said as he walked off.

"What was that all about", a voice behind asked. She turned around to see Damien.

"Oh, nothing, just, Pat being stubborn", Charlie didn't want to get into it. "What's up?"

"You busy?"

"Nope"

"Good, do you wanna walk?" Damien asked.

It was warm outside as the Damien and Charlie walked around enjoying the atmosphere of the mountains. Charlie liked feeling like this. For the first time ina while she could be around Damien and not feel like he wanted more. She liked being friends with him and even though she had the most intense feelings for him, she knew nothing could ever become of it. She knew too much.

"So, my moms getting married", Damien said.

"Really", she said in amazement. Damien had told her about Josephine Bretones many men.

"Yeah".

"Congratulations", she said.

"Thanks",

"Why?" she laughed.

"I have no idea", he chuckled with her.

"Love?"

"Possible", he smiled. His mother's marriages and divorces never surprised him anymore. He actually did, find them a little amusing.

"When?"

"3rd of July", he replied.

"Wow".

"What 2 weeks, last one was done in 2 hours", he told her.

"Jeez, Britney Spears must feel normal", she joked.

"I'm sure my mom is rockin' her world", Damien laughed.

Around the corner, in the sports shed, Binna and Kat were doing one of there weekly chores. As they cleaned the shed, putting sports gear back in its rightful place, a plastic ball fell down on Kat's head.

"Ow", she laughed. Binna laughed at her and she threw the ball at him, starting a game of, 'Who can dodge the ball more'. As they continued playing a shadow crept along the entrance. Binna looked around to see the man that had told him he was his father.

"I'm gonna go", Kat left the two alone. The two stared in silence, much like the other day when they had met.

"Was that your girlfriend", George asked coming forward. Binna got nervous and stepped back a bit.

"Yeah". After another minute of awkward silence George finally spoke.

"Say something, please".

"With respect, Mr. Radetchi, I'm not the one that should be doing the talking", Binna said formally.

George smiled nervously. "Would it be ok to get some coffee somewhere?"

"No", Binna said bluntly, "I've gotta clean the shed".

"I'm sorry it took me so long to come back after the last visit", George apologized.

"Is that what you'd call it?"

"What would you call it?"

"I don't know, a 10 second run in", Binna looked at him bitterly.

"I'm sorry, I got a little wierded out", George said.

Binna scoffed, smiling angrily, throwing down the plastic ball.

"Was there something I said?" George asked. Binna glared at him. "I know you're annoyed, you have every right to be".

"Annoyed", Binna chuckled, trying to contain himself. "I'm not annoyed. Annoyed is what you get when your dad doesn't turn up to your baseball game, but hey, you didn't turn up to any of them".

"I'm sorry"

"Would you stop saying that", he yelled. He couldn't hold it anymore, "I don't wanna here that you're sorry. You know, you come here, after 17 years, just out of nowhere. 17 years. And then you just expect me to talk, you expect me to pick up the pieces, where you left off. Does that sound normal to you? And then you say that you got a little wierded out. Let me tell you something, you don't have that right", he smashed through a stack of javelin sticks, all them falling to the flaw with a loud clatter. "You knew who I was, how did you think I felt when you turned up, said I'm your father, so goddamn casually. No, you know what? I was wierded out".

"If you'll let me explain", George stood there in shock of Binna's outburst.

"Explain what?" Binna said boredly. "Why you ran out on my mom when she needed you the most. Why you left her with nothing to tell her where you were going or why. I guess you figured she's realize all that on her own. Let me guess why you left, you never wanted a kid, you wanted to be free to do whatever the hell you liked. You were the guy with ten girls always on the go, am I right, George?" Binna said almost sarcastically. He then came towards his father; he reached for his shoulders and whispered in his ear almost to make sure that there was no mistake in what he was saying. "Well, fuck you, alright? Fuck you". With that Binna left, not sure if he had done the right thing, but feeling good about it in the moment. He wanted George to feel what he felt all those years. Lost and angry and sad for his mother.

Ok that's it for now. Next chapter, Ezra sees his parents, but is it everything he's been waiting for.

Also Binna's father returns and Charlie digs deeper into Patrick's dyslexia situation.

Plus David's father calls revealing the truth about his son's dilemma

Please, please, please review


	15. Chapter 15

Higher Ground

The High Life

Father and Son

It was the end of another day at horizon and the Cliffhangers had been given free time to relax. Most had found a quiet place in the mess hall to watch TV or read a book. Damien had decided to practice his technique in football and after a while kicking the ball around decided to find the others. As he walked in to the mess hall he saw Patrick sprawled out over the main sofa reading his English book. Damien walked up behind him and as a prank, picked up a pillow and hit him over the head lightly. Patrick pulled the pillow away before he realized who his aggravator was.

"Damien, mate where ya been, I feel like I haven't seen you in ages", Patrick grinned.

"We share the same room, man, I saw you this morning", Damien said as he sat down on the chair across from him. "What chapter you up to?" he indicated Patrick's book.

"Oh, um 17", Patrick looked puzzled at his book. He had no idea what chapter he was up to. 17 sounded good.

"That book only has 12 chapters and you're novels right at the beginning", Damien was confused.

"Page 17. You didn't let me finish", Patrick covered up.

"You ok. Pat?

"Why wouldn't I be?" answering a question with a question always got people off his back.

"Ok, um, well I'm going to go find Binna, he owes me a game", Damien held the football up as he walked away.

Patrick watched as he left through the door before getting up to look around the room. He needed to talk to Charlie. He found her watching TV by herself.

"Ok, what do I do", he said unexpectedly as Charlie turned around to see who was interrupting her much needed TV time.

"What do you mean what do you do", she was confused.

"You know what I'm talking about", he replied.

"Do I?" she was teasing him now.

"Forget it", he turned away.

"Wait, wait, wait", she said before he left. "You want to know what to do about you're dyslexia problem?"

He turned to face her embarrassed. "Don't judge me", he said in a kind of joking way.

"Lets go talk to Peter"; she turned the TV off and led him out of the mess hall.

"I can't believe this got passed everyone. I mean, how did we not know about this", Peter sat at his desk, annoyed at himself for not realizing Patrick was dyslexic.

"Calm down, Peter", Sophie told him, "We can't know every little thing about every student".

"Dyslexia is not a little thing, Soph", he said. "How has he been able to study? He can't read. It was my responsibility to find out his weaknesses and I failed".

"I'm sure he doesn't see it that way", Sophie said. "Peter, yes it was a shock, no, you did not fail him, but can we deal with this? Absolutely".

Peter put his pen down and sighed. He knew she was right.

Ezra was nervous to see his biological parents again. He couldn't believe his luck, finally finding his real mother and father and the best bit; that they were actually pretty cool people. As he thought about this, the car he had come to recognize drove up the driveway and parked by Peter's office. Janine and Barry got out of the car and walked to him. After the greetings were over, Ezra wanted to know what they were going to do today.

"So. What are we doing today?" he asked, "There's still a lot that I haven't shown you".

"Ezra, sit down", Janine told him with pity in her face. "There's something important we have to say to you".

Ezra sat back down on the bench, worried about what was inevitably going to follow.

"Ok, what is it", he asked a little hesitant. He wasn't so sure he really wanted to know.

"This is so hard", Barry looked at Janine.

"Ezra, we were young when we had you…"

"And now almost 18 years after…" Barry and Janine took turns to freak Ezra out.

"We have a 13 year old and a 7 year old", Janine finished.

"Well, I did expect you to have kids", Ezra said.

"That's not the point Ezra", Janine told him.

"Well, what is the point?" Ezra was getting very apprehensive.

"Our kids don't know about you", Barry said, "And we're afraid that if we told them it would open up something we don't want to open".

"So you're keeping me a secret", Ezra knew this was it for him and his biological parents. He didn't know whether to be angry or sad. All he knew was that his parents didn't want anything to do with him.

"We came here, to at least see you, talk to you. But we knew from then on, you could only ever be a fond memory", Janine said. That was it. Ezra was angry.

"You think you could of told me about this little detail", he asked quietly gritting his teeth.

"We're sorry Ezra", Janine looked at him sorrowfully.

"Don't tell me you're sorry", he stood up. He couldn't control his fury any longer. "Could you possibly be any more selfish? You come here, took me out to lunch to butter me up and now you're throwing me away like none of this even happened". He was yelling now, letting all his anger out. "If you wanted nothing to do with me, why did you come here? Huh? Why did you give me hope when you knew there was none?"

"Ezra we wanted to come here to tell you in person", Barry told him.

"And you thought that was a good plan? Seriously?" Ezra almost had to laugh. "Before you were nameless, faceless. Now I've seen you, seen what you're like. Stupid me, I thought you were actually great people. And now every time I think of my wonderful biological parents, I can know that they didn't want me. So thank you. Thank you so much for giving me yet another fantastic memory", he smiled with bitter sarcasm before walking away, never to see them again.

Already for most of the Cliffhangers, the day seemed like it would never end. With confrontation after confrontation, Binna had to get out. He sat by himself at the docks, thinking about the past week. He couldn't believe that he'd found his father, or even more strange that he's father had found him. He heard someone behind him. He turned around to see the shiny black boots and expensive suede coat that looked like it was bought by a mafia boss.

"You're friend Damien said I could find you here", George said.

Binna turned back and looked out to the water wondering if he should jump or not.

"I'm sorry", George said once again, "I know you don't want to here it, but I would say it a million times if I thought we could come to some agreement".

Binna laughed bitterly. "You sound like a politician telling a hooker not to sell her story."

"Can I please just talk?" George asked, silencing Binna. "Firstly, I hate myself for what I did to you and your mother. I think about it every day. 18 years of wondering how you were doing, what you were like. Whether or not you looked like me. The truth is when your mother became pregnant, my dad threatened to cut me off. And although I hated doing it, I had to leave. I can't change that. I wish I could but I can't. Then one day, I opened up my newspaper and on the front cover, I read how a boy of 16 years old had robbed a New York Liquors Store. And I read that when he got caught by a cop, he held him up by threatening to slit his throat", George looked at Binna to see what kind of an impact he was making. He realized that Binna was teary, about to cry. "After about 5 minutes the cop tried to break loose from the young boys grip. But it was too late. The knife had gotten him, square in the chest". Binna sniffed back tears. "He was dead. That boy was you Binna".

"I don't know how it happened. It was accident, he moved forward into the knife. He… he…I wasn't gonna hurt anybody, I just needed some cash", Binna cried panicking; almost pleading with the man without knowing what he was pleading for.

"Its ok, I believe you", George sat down next to him. He wanted desperately to take his son into his arms and comfort him, but he didn't want to freak him out anymore than he already had. "I believe you". Binna looked up at George, his tears flowing freely. He couldn't believe that this man was on his side.

"You believe me?"

"We all make mistakes, Binna. We've both made some big ones. But some mistakes deserve second chances", George said finally.

"You want one?" Binna asked mercilessly.

"I don't deserve it. But yes. I want one", George replied.

Binna pulled his dangling legs up to his chest. "Then you've got one, don't screw it up".

It was morning at Horizon as the group sat down ready to chow into their breakfast in the cafeteria.

"Hello lovelies", came Ryder with his strong English accent, as he sat down next to Shayne and Kat.

"Well, you're in a good mood", Shayne pointed out.

"So, who'd you make cry so early in the morning", Charlie asked.

Oh please, you give me too much credit. Can't a man just be fantastically happy?" Ryder replied.

"Well, you'll be proud to know that I just had my first reading lesson", Patrick sat down with his tray next to Charlie.

"Alright Irish", Charlie congratulated him. "And how was it?"

"Boring. But I did learn a few things about Roger. Did you guys know he was dyslexic?" Patrick asked, a smile on his face.

"Ah see, I told you. Its pretty common", Charlie said.

"Hey, where's EZ. I wanna tell him".

"He's parents are leaving today. I'm guessing he's saying goodbye to them". Damien pointed out.

In the boy's dorm room, Ezra was still in bed. He wasn't in the mood to get up at all that day. He wanted to be alone, surrounded by his thoughts. He pulled his blanket up over his head as he heard a knock on the door. He knew who it was. But he didn't want to see them.

"Ezra?" Barry called from outside. "Are you in there?"

"Ezra, come on we know you're in there", Janine said. "Don't you want to say Goodbye?"

Ezra said nothing. Instead he shut his eyes hoping that they would get the message and leave.

"I guess not", Barry said. As Ezra heard them walking away, he got up out of bed and peered out of the window. He promised himself it was the last time he would think about those people. He already had parents. They were all he needed.

As usual peter was working in his office as Sophie came in.

"What ya doin, mountain man?" she asked.

"Oh, just sorting out David's profile. He's one month evaluation is coming up next week", peter replied.

"Well, before you go any further. Pick up the phone, its David's father". Sophie told him.

He picked up the phone and got ready to speak to the general.

"Hello, Peter Scarbrow", he greeted him.

"Hello Mr. Scarbrow. This might sound a little strange, but I would like to speak to you about David", the General said.

"What's on your mind?" Peter asked.

"Well, Mr. Scarbrow. My son has run away. 3 weeks ago now. I just called as a last resort to see if he was there".

"I'm sorry, he ran away?" Peter was confused.

"Yes, that's what I said", the general was impatient.

"Uh, as a matter of fact, he is here. And he has been for about 3 weeks now", Peter told him. "I can assure you, I had no idea of this. He had you're credit card, I just assumed you knew".

"Well no, I didn't know. As I said, he ran away, took my credit card and some loose cash and he was gone", the General sounded very disapproving. "Did it not occur to you to call and verify this with me?"

"I'm terribly sorry. I assure that I will find out everything and get back to you. Do you want to speak to him?"

"No, he won't speak to me. I'm coming up there. I'll be their firs thing tomorrow morning", with that the General hung up. Peter was stunned. He couldn't' believe that David had lied to him all this time and he wondered how he'd succeeded for so long. He had to speak to him.

In the mess hall the group was watching a movie.

"God, I hate that guy. He thinks he's so cool", David muttered under his breath.

"Its only his character David, its not real", Shanyne jokingly reassured him.

"David?" Peter's voice crept eerily over David as he looked up. "Your in big trouble".

"I didn't do it", was David's immediate reaction.

"Follow me to the office, please", Peter bellowed as David stood up and walked out of the mess hall.

"Wonder what that was about", Damien said.

"Guess we'll find out soon enough", Kat replied.

"Ugh, David's right. That guy is an ass", Charlie stood up, oblivious to the whole thing. As Patrick laughed, he saw Ezra coming in.

"Hey, lad, where ya been", he asked.

"Just sleeping", Ezra said discreetly as he sat down.

"Jeez, I wish I could sleep that long. You've been sleeping since 8 last night", Patrick told him.

"So?"

"So its 4:30 in the afternoon", Patrick looked at his watch.

"So, did you see you're parents off", Kat asked.

"My parents never came", Ezra replied grimly.

"What?" Shayne chimed in, "You mean they weren't your biological parents?"

"No, they were my biological parents, but they weren't my parents", Ezra told them.

"What's going on, EZ, I thought you liked them", Binna asked.

"Yeah, that was until they told me they never want to see me again", he explained.

"Oh EZ, I'm sorry", Kat expressed her apologies.

"Its ok, whatever you know? I mean, the poor little adopted school boy act is a bit out, don't you think its like the oldest story in the book", Ezra said without a hint of pity in his voice.

"EZ, not if its you", Kat said.

"Kat, I'm fine, stop worrying", Ezra snapped. He had made a packed with himself never to think about them again and already he had broken it.

"So", Peter sat down at his desk after offering David the seat opposite. "Been keeping any secrets from me lately?"

"Ok, so the vase was old anyway and when you think about it, its not like I could really control where the ball was gonna hit", David said.

"What?"

"Nothin", David put his head down.

"Can I have your wallet?" Peter said unexpectedly.

"What do you want with my wallet?"

"Why are so worried about me having your wallet?" Peter asked.

"Because you're making me worried about you having my wallet, Come on, you're freaking me out, man", David was still unsure what was going on.

"Hand it over", Peter put his hand out to receive it. David reached into his jeans and gave it to Peter.

"Mind if I keep this?" Peter asked as he pulled out his credit card. "Its proof, that's all".

"Uh, proof of what?"

"Well. You see, tomorrow when your father arrives, he's gonna be very angry if I can't show him that in fact I do have your credit card, therefore, I had no reason to call him to verify that you should be here", Peter dropped the bomb.

The gig was up. "Oh", David lowered his head.

"Oh, indeed", Peter said.

"He called?"

"That he did. Landing you in a whole lot of boiling water", Peter replied.

"Look, I had to get away, ok. I mean, you've met my father, you know what he's like", David tried to explain.

"No, David, I really don't know what your fathers like. Because you've never told me. Yes I've met him, but that does not mean I know him", Peter told him.

David sighed. "What are you gonna do?"

"Well, you're father will be here early tomorrow, if you can't give me a reason for not going with him, then I'm sorry there's nothing I can do", Peter said.

"I'm not going back there", David yelled, panicked, "Don't make me, I wont".

"You know, all kids struggle with their parents, some a little more than others, but that still doesn't justify running away and getting high all the time", Peter stood up.

"Really, and you never did anything like that because your father, Peter, don't be a hypocrite", David said.

"For a while I didn't have anyone to go to and tell me how stupid it was. Maybe you didn't either. But you do now. And I'm telling you, if there is anything that you're father is doing that you think is wrong, tell me, or somebody else, I don't care. The fact is without you're fathers permission and without a plausible excuse, you have no choice but to go back home".

It was the end of the day and the end of the first visit from George Andretti. It was time to go. After spending most of the day with his lost son, he felt sure that this was the beginning of a new relationship.

"So, I guess this is it", George said as he got to his car.

"Yeah I guess", Binna replied.

There was silence between them as George's driver opened the door.

"So, I'll call"

"Yeah", Binna said almost too quickly. As they hugged each other, the driver climbed in to the front seat.

"Everything I said was true, ok. You're my son, I want to get to know you", George told him.

Binna smiled. "See ya, George".

"George?"

"I'm not ready to call you dad yet", Binna told him awkwardly.

George smiled before getting in the limo. "Keep in touch".

They regarded eachother. As George drove off Binna realized something. He finally had a father.

Well, that's it, folks. Next chapter up soon.

Please review


	16. Chapter 16

Higher Ground

The High Life

_Night time. A girl of 11 was kicking a ball in the park. She was angry. A boy walked up behind her. Grabbing the ball out of her hands._

"_Hey", he said._

"_give me the ball", she said not in the mood to be happy to see her best friend._

"_What's up your ass", the boy asked throwing the ball back to her._

"_Nothing. Mom and I just had a fight, that's all", she mellowed. "I'm fine"._

"_Wanna play a game? He asked. The two kicked the ball around not speaking, both enjoying the silence._

"_What time is it?" the girl asked._

"_About 9. Don't you find it disturbing how our parents are the only two in the neighbourhood that don't mind their kids being out on their own at 9pm at night", the boy laughed._

"_Hey, my mom is just cool, all right"._

"_I thought you were angry at your mom?" the boy said._

"_Just kick the ball", the girl said agitated. The boy started kicking as the girl tried to get control of the ball. She succeeded but instead of him chasing after her, he grabbed her, and pulled her to the ground, tickling her. _

"_Stop it, stop it, please", she laughed uncontrollably. "Come on". She was hitting him playfully, trying to get him away from her. As she finally managed to roll over on top of him, she grabbed his hands so he couldn't wriggle free. He didn't try. _

"_Now what are gonna do", she laughed playfully. Before she knew it her friend had reached up and kissed her on the mouth. Immediately she sat up._

"_What was that?" she asked._

"_That was a kiss. Didn't you like it", he asked innocently._

"_I don't know, I guess it was ok", she said a little embarrassed._

'_Do you wanna do it again?_

"_No way", she was adamant._

"_It wasn't that bad, was it", he said a little hurt._

"_Why do you want to kiss me for", she asked._

"_I don't know, yur my best friend, if you cant kiss your best friend who can you kiss", he said simply._

"_Ok, but no tongue", she told him. They both lent into eachother and kissed again. It lasted for about 5 seconds before the girl broke it off._

"_Ok that's enough", she sat up properly. "I should go home, anyway. I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked hopefully._

"_Yeah course," he said running off._

Charlie's eyes opened. How she wished things were like that again. She pulled over her bed covers and got out of bed.

It was a rare sight to see the Cliffhangers mucking around having fun like normal teenagers and as Peter looked out his office window he had to smile. He watched as Damien came up from behind theirbench and dropped a fake snake on Charlies lap.

"Oh I am gonna kill you", she jumped up after she'd realised Damiens prank.

"You'll have to catch me first", he grinned as he started to run. Charlie gave into the chase but just as she was about to catch him he turned back and picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Put me down", she laughed playfully. Damien walked back to the Cliffhangers table, putting her down carefully. As he did she punched him on the shoulder. "Jerk".

"Whered you get a fake snake anyway", kat asked picking up the novelty toy.

"Oh I found him in my pillow when I woke up this morning, but no one would know anything about that would they?" he teased looking at Patrick. "How long have you been hiding him Patrick?"

"Oh nice, of course the Irish guy did it", Patrick defended himself.

"Well the initials PM sorta give it away", Shayne examined the snake.

Peter laughed to himself as he heard the phone ring. It was Ezra's adopted parents. He hated disrupting the Cliffhangers in the mood that they were in, but it had been a sore point with Ezra for a few days now, and he had to speak to his parents eventually.

"You are so full of it", Shayne threw the snake at Patrick as Peter appeared.

"Ezra, phone call for you", Peter said". Ezra knew who it was. His mother had been trying to call him for a couple of days now. He stood up and followed Peter into his office.

"So how are you doing, honey", the voice on the other end of the phone asked.

Peter had left the room giving Ezra some privacy.

"Super", he said facetiously. "How about you?"

"Theres no need for sarcsm, Ezra", his mother said in a disapproving voice. 'what have been up to?"

"Oh you mean besides meeting my real parents and finding out they never wanted me, that I was a mistake", Ezra said.

"Yu're not a mistake, Ezra. Look what you did for me and you're father".

"Uh, prolonged the inevitable divorce", Ezra quipped, "Look I gotta go alright. I'll talk to you later".

"OK honey", his mother said dissapointedly. "I'll talk to you soon. I love you".

Ezra could hear the sadness in her voice and softened. "I love you too, mom".

It was the end of the day as Kat, Damien and Cristina walked towards their rooms. Over on the field Damien spotted Charlie, kicking around a ball.

"So anybody heard about this MORP?' kat asked.

"Only what Ezra and David have been saying. Seems kinda weird to me, a backwards Prom. The only good thing is theres no hassle with dates", Damien commented.

"Whats so bad about having dates?", Cristina asked.

"Well, how would I choose", Damien smiled charmingly at both.

"Something tells me you've already chosen", Kat laughed as she watched Damien watching Charlie. "Even if there are no dates". Before he could respond Charlie's kick of the ball interrupted them as they watched the ball shoot between them, narrowly missing Cristina's head. Charlie raced up to them.

"Sorry about that", she apologised as Damien picked the ball up for her.

"No problem. Its only more proof that I'm better than you", he handed the ball back.

"No problem? That ball could have hit my head", Cristina said.

"Or something vital", Charlie joked as Damien and Kat chuckled.

"Are you trying to be funny, I cant tell", cristina asked confused.

"Honestly cristina, you do my job for me", Charlie quipped.

"Whatever, I don't even understand what you're saying", Cristina left exasperated.

The 3 she had left smiled. "I'll see you guys later", Charlie said running back to the oval.

"See ya"

Not far away, david was sitting in the gazebo by himself, watching the incident.

"Hey Ruxton", Shayne's voice came from behind him.

"Shayne", he greeted back.

"Whats going on over there?" she asked.

"Nothing", he said turning to her. The two sat in silence for a bit.

"You'e an idiot you know", Shayne said unexpextedly.

"Well thankyou, normally I know why people are calling me an idiot though", david joked, "Care to fill me in?"

"You have a chance to get away from your father and you wont even take it", she continued. David sighed. People had pretty much avoided talking to him about his father but lately it seemed that everybody wanted to know what was going on.

"Look, its complicated ok", David began.

"No its not. He beats you, that's not complicated, "she interrupted. How did she know? Did everybody know?

"What? Where did you get that from, he doesn't beat…"

"Yeah, other people might be blind around here but I'm not", Shayne cut him off again.

"Its complicated…"

"Stop saying that. Its not complicated", Shayne said.

"Yes it is", David yelled. "My father… he's the general. People respect him in my town ok. I'm just his wayward son".

"That doesn't give him anymore right than anyone else to beat their kids", Shaynesaid wisely. David couldn't do this now. He wanted to get away. Why was she so interested anyway?

""Yeah but it does give him the upper hand. Why do you care so much", David said a little less angry.

"You really want to know?"

"Yes I really want to know", David said. Shayne sighed. It had been a while since anyone had asked about her story.

"My father had this belt. It was one of those wide balck ones with the metal studs all over them. He didn't need much of a reason to hit me. If I left the lid of the jam, or if I accidently broke a glass. That was enough", Shayne was pensive.

"So what? You want to help me?"

"You're my friend David. And what happened to me was unfair. I know whats it like. I hate seeing a friend going through the same thing that I did and not having the guts to stop it from happening", Shayne explained.

The next morning the Cliffhangers were up early, sitting on their bench, waiting for their classes to begin. Each of them were talking about something, nobody really listening to anyone. Mindless chatter.

"So whats the deal with MORP anyway", Cristina asked getting everybody's attention.

"Basically its just a backwards prom", Ezra replied simply. He remembered the last MORP he went to, the year before. He remembered the crush he had on Daisy and he remembered the hate he had for David, knowing that Daisy had a thing for his newfound friend. A lot had happened since then. He had heard that Daisy lived with her father, still trying to patch up the relationship, slowly succeeding. Shelby and Scott were still together, living closely, doing well. Scott lived with his mother now and was happy playing football in a pack ten school. Shelby, after trying hard to settle things with her mother, had moved away finding a small flat, not far away from Scott. She still kept in regular contact with her mother and her sister Jess, but found it easier not living with them. Juliet was at college. Her mother hadn't changed but she had, and she knew that she could never be the daughter her mother wanted, but strangely that was ok with her now. Auggie was also at college. The two were trying a long distance relationship and so far it was going well. Kat was also doing well at college. Most weekends she spent with her parents. Things seemed to be looking up for her. Ezra thought about the fact sheet he had read last year. 1 out of 6 students would fail to get better in an at-risk school and end up coming back. He guessed that was David. Ezra had not yet finished his stint at the teenage screw up facility.

"So what, nobody dances, everybody's bored to death and there are no fights at all?" Shayne asked.

"Well everybpdy dances at the same time, theres no dates, you know, that kinda thing", Ezra snapped back into his reality.

"well I get what they mean about the no dates thing", Cristina commented. "I mean, it must really be hard when nobody asks you, not that I'd have any experience with that, I'm way to cute".

"Oh that's not true, you're not that cute", Binna retorted.

"A prom is a waste of time anyway", Ryder was always the cynic. "You dance, someone always gets drunk, makes an idiot out of himself, theres always a fight, you go home feeling completely dissapoointed".

"Oh Ryder, we finally agree on something", Charlie said.

"You really think proms a waste of time", Damien said particularly to Charlie.

"Like Ryder said, you're always disappointed, nothing ever happens like you want it to", Charlie told him. Damien didn't know why he was surprised by the fact that Charlie thought that. She was never one to follow the crowd and she was sceptical about practically everything.

"Ah, Charlie, I feel we've reached a new stage in our relationship", Ryder sighed, laughing at the fact they had something in common. The truth was they had quite a lot in common. Both were cynics, both hated to lose, and they both loved to surprise people by doing something out of the ordinary. Maybe that's why they clashed.

"I think you've felt way too much", Charlie quipped.

"And still the girls keep letting me", Ryder said in a dream like state. The group had to smile. At this point, Crstina had pulled out a mirror and had started refreshing herself.

"Oh god would you put that thing away, Princess the sun gleams off you're face, you're perfect", Shayne tried to reassure her.

"Well thankyou, but perfection is hard to attain", Cristina replied.

"You're implying that you're not perfect?' Damien asked.

"I am simply saying that to get as gorgeous as me takes time", cristina brushed her hair away from her face and pouted her mouth in front of the mirror.

"You're not too complicated are you, Cristina", Charlie joked.

"Try not to be", Cristina said. "Wait, are you trying to confuse me again?"

"Trust me, I'm not trying to confuse you", Charlie said, "Its not enough of a challenge".

"You are aren't you?"

"I sware, I don't know what your talking about", Charlie smiled.

"Ugh, I'm gonna kill the next person who confuses me", Cristina stood up in passion.

"Oh come on Cristina, suicides not the answer", Charlie laughed. Cristina huffed forcelfully and walked off. With all the jokes, Damien had noticed a car pull up in the drive way that he recognized.

"Oh my god", he exclaimed standing up.

"What?" kat asked.

"Its my father", Damien told them in disbelief. "Whats he doing here". Immediately Charlie jumped up.

"Uh, we should leave you to chat", Charlie said urgently. As the Cliffhangers left, Damien grabbed Charlie's arm. He was the only one she'd told about his father and he wanted her to be there.

"No Charlie, please stay', he begged, "I cant do it by mysef".

"I really think you should talk to him alone", she told him selfishly.

"Charlie please". Before she could get away Damiens father was right infront of them.

"Hello Damien", Mr Bretones said stiffly.

"Why are you here?" Damien

"Damien, I said hello, its curtesy to greet me back", His father said strictly.

"Hello father, how are you", Damien said coldly.

"Who's your friend", Mr Bretones asked staring at Charlie. Charlie kept her face down to the ground.

"This is Charlie", Damien stared icily at his father.

"Charlie you look very familiar, are you from California?" Mr Bretones asked.

Charlie was worried. Her worst fears were about to come true. Immediately Damien looked at her, his eyes focusing on her fearful face. This wasn't the time. She had to go.

"I guess I just have a familiar face", her voice shaked. "I have to go study". Damien watched her bolt away. He didn't care that his father was standing in front of him, all he cared about was finding out the truth from Charlie. She'd always looked familiar to him, and when he'd ask her about, she was so secretive. Now his father thought the same thing. Something was definitely going on that Damien was intent to find out.

"So, son, how are you doing?" Mr bretones said as Damien snapped back remembering that his father was still standing in front of him.

"Fine. Why are you here", Damien asked bluntly.

"I was doing some business up here, I thought I'd drop by", Mr bretones answerd.

"You always have business up here, you've never dropped, I have to admit I kinda liked it that way", Damien wasn't interested.

"Well, had I known you were gonna be like this, I wouldn't have come", his father told him.

"Did you seriously think that I would act differently", Damien was disbelieving.

"I am only here for another half an hour, I had hoped we could have a pleasant conversation", Mr Bretones said.

"Well, god that would be boring", Damien quipped.

"I can see I'm not going to get anywhere with you, I see things havnt changed", Mr bretones said becoming angrier "I'm beginning to think this school isn't where I want you to be"..

"Goodbye dad", Damien looked his father square in the eye.

"You would've never spoken…"

"Goodbye Dad", Damien repeated firmly. With that his father turned and left. As for Damien, he had somewhere to be.

Charlie was anxious. She knew any minute Damien would be at her dorm to confront her. What would she say to him? She didn't know. She couldn't think rationally. If he knew her secret she couldn't deny it but if he was just going to guess about it, could she continue hideing the truth. Just as she fell onto her bed there was a heavy knock on the door. Confession time. Or perhaps she'd play dumb.

"Hey, how'd it go?" she asked casually when she opened the door.

"I sent him on his way home", he told her. So far, so good. "But I don't care about that. Whats going on, what have you been hiding?"

She smiled at him innocently. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about" he had no time for her games.

"Sorry I'm afraid I don't", Charlie said, "Look, unless you wanna tell me what your problem is, I have to study". She tried to close the door but he was too fast for her as his foot caught the door.

"Stop playing games with me, all right", Damien yelled, pushing the door open and grabbing her, pushing her up against the wall so she couldn't escape.

"Jeez, I don't know what you're talking about ok", she yelled back.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about! I have recognized you from day one, and now my father does too and you're still playing dumb?"

"Damien, please…"

"I have told you everything, everything about my life. I've trusted you with my deepest secrets", he continued. Charlie couldn't look at him. If she looked into his eyes she would tell him everything.

"If you're right, and you did recognize me, why would it matter", Charlie said, "I mean I don't remember doing anything that horrible to anyone, I don't see why you'd care".

"Well, your so intent on keeping it a secret from me, its obviously something", he answered angrily. She kept looking away. "Look at me!" he held her chin with his hand making sure she was looking at him. His eyes were so full of anger.

"You know don't you?" he said softly, "You know everything, that night when I told you everything about myself. You know there was more to it than that, don't you? Don't you!"

Charlie was crying now. "I don't know anything more than what you told me".

"Stop lying!" he was in a blind rage. She almost felt scared of him. "Tell me the truth!"

She couldn't handle it anymore. She had to let it out. "You want the truth? The truth is I'm tired. I am so tired of you always accusing me of something", she yelled. "You're always in my face, always after something from me. Do you hear me hounding you about Denise. Do I ask why you didn't just push her off? I'm sure you could have. Or maybe that's it, maybe you didn't want to, maybe that's you're big secret. That you wanted her". Why did she say all that? She didn't believe that? Never. She couldn't look at him as he stood centermetres from her still holding her in place. He moved away and just for a second she got a glimpse of him. The pain and hurt in his eyes. He couldn't believe what she had said either. He was disgusted in her. He had trusted her and she'd thrown it in his face in just a few short minutes. He backed away slowly, not taking his eyes off her. Almost like he was memorizing her so if he ever saw her in the future he'd know to turn away. For a second she saw hatred. She had succeeded in screwing up any sort of relationship she had with the one person who truly mattered to her. He left without saying anything, leaving the door wide open.

"Damien, please…Damien", tears streamed down her face as she fell down against the wall, lifting her hands to her head and crying forcefully. Why did she say those things?

_A girl runs towards a plain looking house, sobbing just after midday. She knocks on a window._

"_Are you in there?" she yells. The blinds are closed and she cant see in. No answer._

_She runs to the front of the house and knocks on the door. A man answers._

"_You really shouldn't be here, where in the middle of something", the man says._

"_I just need to talk to him, please", the girl cries._

"_Whats happened?" the man asks._

"_I just need to talk to him", the girl repeats._

_The man lets her in. Inside he leads her to her friends room. The door is opened and her friend is lying on his bed. She squints._

"_What is this?" she cries. "Whats going on?"_

"_Would you like to join us", the father asks._

_She is pushed on the bed next to her sobbing friend. _

Charlie sat up in bed. What is with these dreams? She plumped up her pillow and rested her head, falling back to sleep trying to forget.

The next morning Charlie walked into group late. She'd barely got any sleep at all and as a result had slept in. As she walked in she felt all eyes on her. Word had obviously spread around. She couldn't be bothered justifying herself or coming up with a smart coment , figuring it'd be easier to just sit down and be quiet. There was one person not looking at her, maing no comments. She didn't want to imagine what he wanted to say. As she sat down she noticed some photos spread across the floor. She noticed that one was a picture of herself in her soccer uniform after her team had just won.

"What's this?"

"As I was saying". Sophie began, "These are all photos of yourself. What I want you to do with them is pick your photos up and analyse it. Tell me what you might have been feeling that day".

"Where did you get these anyway", Patrick asked.

"You're parents sent them especially for this task", Sophie answered.

"See, that's why I love my ma so much", Patrick joked as Sophie handed him his photo. It was a picture of him licking an ice cream at the park.

"Oh that mullet is terrifying", Binna laughed.

"Patrick, think about that day. What were you doing, how did yu feel?" Sophie asked.

"I remember this. I think I was 8. My ma took me to the park down the street and we got ice cream, you know the soft served stuff that comes around in the van", Patrick smiled and let out a chuckle. "That was a good day".

"What do you think of that photo now?" Sophie crossed her arms, happy to be making progress.

Patrick lost the smile and sat pensively. "Its never gonna be like that again. I lost most of my childhood pretty soon after. I look at this and I see a child. I look at a photo taken a few months after and I don't know what I see. Something in between.A boy that had to grow up to fast".

"That's good Patrick. Its never gonna be the same again. But it could be better. If you let it", Sophie smiled. "Ok Charlie, you're next".

Charlie picked up the photo and gave a little smirk. She couldn't believe her father would send this photo.

"This is the day my Soccer team won the state premiership for under 12's", she said not willing to elaborate.

"How did you feel that day?" Sophie asked playing the shrink part nicely.

"Well, it was also the day my mother died, so sorta mixed emotions", she laughed casually. Damien looked up at her, interested and concerned.

"My father sent this to you?"

"yes".

"He's nice isn't he?" she said facetiously.

"What do you thyink about this when you see it now?" Sophie watched Charlie looking for any sign of emotion.

"I think this is the day that my world fell apart", Charlie said.

"Because of your mother", sophie had to coach her.

"That, among other things", she looked down towards the floor.

"What other things?"

"You really think she's gonna tell us about her life? Come on", Damien smirked. This got Charlie attention.

"Charlie, you know you don't have to tell us anything you don't want to", Sophie told her sympathetically. Damien scoffed. Charlie looked up at that, which encouraged her to let it out. She couldn't be bothered holding it out anymore. No matter what the consequences, she was going to tell them.

"I was 11 the day this was taken, I was so happy, I was the only girl on the team and I scored the winning goal. And it felt great. My best friend lifted me up on his shoulders. I finally felt like part of the team. Then I got home", she smiled sadly, "My happiness was stripped away, dad sat as desk crying, and he told me, she was in a car accident and she didn't make it. I couldn't handle it. I had to get outta there. So I ran, yeah, I ran and I found myself at my friends house. I knocked on his window but he wouldn't answer. I could hear him in there, but for some reason he wouldn't answer. So I decided to knock on the front door. He's dad was standing there. It was obvious he wasn't in the mood for guests. He was in the middle of something. But he saw my tears and brought me into my friends room anyway." Charlie clenched her eyes shut, she didn't want to remember this. She let a tear roll out of the corner of her eye. Damien saw this and desperately wanted to comfort her.

"In the room I saw my best friend on his bed, he was crying", she lifted her arm up and rested her hand on her head, still sobbing. "He had his pants around his ankles, and his father just stood there like this was a normal thing. He was horrified, that I was there, that my father was letting me witness this. 'What are you doing here, go away' he cried. I turned to run but before I got there his father closed and locked the door". Chalrie looked at Damien. Was he catching on?

"He shoved me on the bed next to my friend and his father made us…", she swallowed making sure she wouldn't be sick, "He made us…you know. And all the while his step-mpther was just in living room, she knew everything that was going on. All my friend could say right through it, was I'm sorry. 'I'm sorry Christensen'". That fgot damiens attention.

"After that, of couse his father wanted some of the action and…"

"Shut up, god shut up!" Damien yelled, a tear running from his eye. The Cliffhangers looked at him, wondering what was with his outburst. "Don't tell them all this".

"Damien, I'm sorry" Charlie pleaded with him. It had to come out didn't it? He wanted this. Maybe not this, but he wanted her to tell him the truth, and this was the truth.

"Don't tell me your sorry", Damien stood up exasperated and walked off, leaving the Ciffhangers wondering what was going on. Charlie went after him. They were on the soccer filed by the time she had caught up with him. The group had also followed but stopped just outside the mess hall.

"Damien, willl you talk to me?"Charlie cried, pulling him around to face her.

"I have nothing to say to you", he said angrily.

"Damien…"

"That was not you're story to tell", he yelled.

"Yes it was, it happened to me to", she told him, making things worse. He broke away from her.

"You didn't have to tell all of them", he spoke softly as he turned back to her. "You knew, all this time, and you lied to me. You knew it wasn't Denise, that it was my father and you said nothing", he cried.

"I figured if you didn't want to tell me why should I make you remember", Charlie reasoned.

"You should have told me", Damien said.

"You couldn't even remember me, Damien", she yelled, "It was pretty obvious that somewhere along the line you decided you didn't want to". He came right up to and held her arms, forcelfully. She found herself getting a bit afraid of him. She looked at him, the pure anger in his piercing blue eyes.

"I would've wanted to know", he said through gritted teeth.

"Well now you do", she whispered. Then a new expression came across his face. It was of complete sadness.

"The D, on you're ankle", he said, remembering, "That was me, you hated me?"

"No, I never hated you, I loved you", she said quite loudly before becoming aware of the audience that was gathering up. Not just Cliffhangers but the whole school.

"You were my best friend", she tried to put her hand softly on his face, but he wanted nothing from her. He threw her hand away and she gasped, jumping back. He looked at her, vulnerably. Did she think he was about to hit her? She was afraid of him. He couldn't stand the fact that she was afraid of him. He put his hands to his head, still crying, closing his eyes tightly to stop the tears. He had to go. He walked away quietly, Charlie watching him leave. She noticed binna about to go after him, but peter cut in and must have told him differently. She was humiliated. She couldn't believe that after all that had happened she was humiliated by having an audience.

"Yeah, thank for coming out guys, round two's tomorrow. 6 o'clock, hope to see you there", she joked sadly, waving her hand facetiously as she walked off in the direction of the docks. It was a cover. She didnt want to joke. She wanted to crawl into a whole cry. Cry about her mother, who died way too soon. cry for her father, lost to her after using her as a punching bag way too many times. Cry about Damien. Most of all cry about damien. They had been through the worst thing possible together and now it was over. Even if her forgave her, he could never look at her again. She would remind him of his father. His disgusting excuse of a father. Even she found it hard to look at damien, a bitter reminder of his father. But she dealt with it. She had too. She loved him too much. Their friendship had technically not survived the first time, now, it was all over. years of friendship gone. "You're my best friend, I could never leave you", she heard fading in her head. Best friend? Maybe in her most cherrished dreams.

That is all for now. 1 more chapter to go, folks. Don't worry I wont be leaving you hanging for months on end this time. Adios!


	17. Last Chapter

Higher Ground

The High Life

Final Chapter...Someday, I'll See You Again

The water crashed fiercely around the dock. The wind was strong at Horizon, it was freezing and still Charlie sat down on the wooden planks wrapping her arms around herself for warmth. She couldn't go back to the dorm, or the mess hall. She couldn't answer anyone's questions. The coldness outside was nothing like the coldness she'd be getting from Damien if she were to run into him. She couldn't face him. It had only been a couple of hours since the big blow up. Hadn't it? She couldn't tell. Time passed like nothing. She couldn't think of anything except the chaos that had happened. She desperately wanted to know what Damien was thinking. Did he hate her? It hurt to think of him hating her. She didn't have time to think about that as Kat walked up with a jacket.  
"You still here", she handed her the jacket, "Its freezing, are you crazy.  
Charlie just sat in silence whimpering.  
"Come on, let's go inside, go to bed, everything will be better tomorrow", Kat suggested.  
"Kat, please", Charlie cried, "I know you mean well, but I just need to be alone.  
Kat sighed. "Ok, just put that jacket on, you'll freeze to death if you stay out here much longer". She turned to leave but just before walking away she decided to leave Charlie with something to think about. "You know he likes you a lot, maybe even loves you.  
"I'll send him a get well soon card", Charlie quipped. "Just give it a while, he'll come around", Kat said before leaving. Charlie was grateful for Kat caring, but she couldn't see Damien coming around anytime soon.

The outdoor lights shone down over the football field as Damien kicked the ball into the goal for the 20th time that hour. Whatever they said about sport being a stress reliever, they were wrong. Damien didn't know what to feel. He was confused. He was angry with Charlie, but also disappointed and embarrassed by the whole ordeal and the way it had come out. He thought that was selfish of him, only thinking about himself, but at that moment he couldn't care less. Guilt played a heavy part on him too. It was his father that had caused this. Not only his problems but a lot of Charlie's too. As the ball landed in the goal once more he noticed Binna running out to get it.  
"Hey man", Binna threw the ball back.  
"Go away, Binna", Damien warned, "I'm not in the mood.  
"She didn't mean anything. She just didn't know how to tell you", Binna told him.  
"I don't care, she should have told me, preferably not in front of the whole group", Damien said.  
"You were goading her, man. As if you wouldn't have done the same thing", Binna tried to reason with him. "Ok, so maybe the way she did it was a little off but try thinking about her side of things. She wasn't keeping it a secret for herself. She thought she was protecting you.  
"Oh yeah, how"  
"You couldn't even remember her", Binna replied, "Maybe she figured you'd blocked it out for your own good. Who was she to come in and screw that up for you?  
"Binna"  
"Don't worry, I'm going", Binna interrupted him a little aggravated.

Finally the night of the MORP had arrived. While the girls had been frantically getting ready all day, the guys had been relaxing on a bench outside, only starting to get ready about half an hour beforehand. The events of the day before were still weighing heavy on most of them. Charlie and Damien had not spoken to each other or anyone else for that matter. As the group walked into the revamped mess hall they could feel the tension in the air, all caused by two people. As for the mess hall, it looked completely different. Peter had really gone all out this year.  
"Wow, this looks so cool", Kat exclaimed.  
"Yeah Peter really knows how to throw a party", Binna agreed, "Wanna dance?" Kat smiled as Binna whisked her away to the floor.  
"I remember last year", Ezra began.  
"Oh do you now", David said in a gentlemanly tone, "So do I.  
"Yeah, you were the ass trying to steal my girl", Ezra joked.  
"You know I can only steal your girl, if you had her in the first place", David pointed out.  
"Eh, you were still an ass", Ezra shrugged.  
"So you got cool, and we got Ryder", Patrick quipped.  
"I resent that", Ryder said.  
"Whats with the top hat anyway", Shayne reached for Patrick's headwear.  
"It's a new fashion trend", Patrick grabbed his hat back, "you'll catch on. As for me I think I spy a lovely lady needing to be cheered up.  
Patrick walked over to the other side of the room where Charlie had positioned herself. "Does one care to dance?" Patrick outstretched his hand.  
"I've decided to stay in the corner tonight, be a loner", Charlie said.  
"Well thats boring", Patrick exclaimed.  
"Hey, it worked for the Unabomber right?" Charlie joked.  
"Ah planning on bombing the place later huh?" Patrick asked.  
"Got everything I need in my trusty old handbag", Charlie rested her hand on the red purse.

On the opposite side of the room Cristina felt parched as she lifted the punch bowl spoon and poured the liquid into her plastic cup.  
"Someone looks like they're in need of a gentleman", Ryder came up besides her.  
"Oh do you see one?" she quipped.  
"Come on, let's dance a bit", Ryder smiled genuinely. She couldn't help but smile back as he took her hand and pulled her towards the floor.  
"If we must", she grinned subtly.

Later, the party was in full swing. People were dancing, chatting and doing everything that normally happened at a party. Well everything that was allowed. The Cliff-hangers were having fun. Damien smiled to himself as he watched the group. Despite looking happy, he wasn't in the mood for a party. He had other things on his mind. He walked into the kitchen hoping to be alone. But sitting on the floor, sobbing was Charlie. She peered up at him, drying her eyes.  
"I'm sorry, I'll leave", Damien said, turning around quickly.  
"No, its ok, I think I'm just gonna head back to the dorm anyway", she said timidly, "Kitchens all yours". He stood, watching her come towards the door, towards him. For a brief moment they caught each other's glare. "Um...I wanted to tell you again how sorry I am", Charlie broke the eye contact as she looked to the floor. Damien said nothing. Say something, Charlie thought. "Yeah, ah I just wanted to say that again before I left". She tried to take off, feeling a little embarrassed but before she could, Damien spoke.  
"You're leaving"  
"Ah, yeah", Charlie turned back to him, "There's another school in Cali so...I'm leaving tomorrow"  
"Oh, well good luck", Damien tried desperately to hide his emotions.  
"Yeah", she started to walk but again he stopped her.  
"It's not cos of me is it"? he asked.  
She couldn't tell him the truth. That it was only because of him.  
"I need to start fresh, get away from the mountains"  
"You love the mountains", he interrupted.  
"Yeah, but the beach is good too", she told him sadly. Both stood in silence watching their feet, hoping something would happen to get them out of the awkward situation that was occurring. Then Damien remembered something he had to get off of his chest.  
"You know I'd never hurt you right? Like physically", he asked unexpectedly. He had to know. "What", she was immediately upset, looking up to him. She would never want him to think that.  
"Yesterday, you jumped, like you were scared of me", he stared at her for the first time, not taking his eyes off of her. He saw the hurt in her eyes caused by the fact that he'd asked that.  
"Don't ever think that", she looked at him still staring towards the ground. She lifted his face gently so he was looking back at her. "You were the one good thing in my life". He wanted to hug her, kiss her. He didn't want her to take her hand away from his face. "I love you", she continued, "You don't have to say anything back, I wouldn't expect you to, I just ah... I just wanted you to know". She took her hand away, as he looked on surprised at her confession. She gave a small smile as she left. He desperately wanted to go after her but he knew nothing could ever happen. There was way too much history between them. So instead he watched her walk out of the mess hall and out of his life forever.

The morning sun shone through the windows as she zipped her last suitcase up tight, all packed to leave Horizon. As she stepped outside, Charlie breathed in the warm fresh air for the last time. The mountains glistened and she thought she'd never seen the school look so beautiful. But it always had been. She'd just never really taken in her surroundings.  
"You ready", Sophie yelled as she and Peter walked closer to her dorm where she was standing.  
"Yeah, I think so", Charlie said as she picked up one of her cases.  
"Here, let me take that", Peter said reaching out for the bag. "So, I guess this is it", Charlie shrugged.  
"Not quite, you've still gotta say goodbye to all of us", Shayne said as she came towards Charlie and hugged her. "Good luck.  
"Thanks", Charlie replied as Kat embraced her.  
"Write to me ok", Kat told her, "I wanna know everything.  
"I'll see what I can do", Charlie smiled. "Lucky last", Charlie said as she saw Cristina.  
"Yeah, whats up with that", Cristina said.  
"Oh good, I thought we'd missed ya", Ezra said as he and the guys approached.  
"Not yet", Charlie said.  
"Patrick was taking forever to finish breakfast and when we tried to leave he freaked out", Binna laughed.  
"I have cafeteria issues ok", Patrick tried to justify himself.  
"I think you should leave out the cafeteria and make it less specific", David joked. Charlie hugged them one by one before turning her head to Ryder. "Ryder", she smiled happily. "Do I get a hug or would you rather I go out in the more traditional way of a screaming match.  
Ryder laughed as he came towards her to hug her. "Give 'em hell.  
"Who? Me?" she smiled again.  
Patrick hugged her last. He could sense she was looking for someone else.  
"He's not coming", Patrick told her.  
She smiled. "That ok, I didn't expect him to. That's why I wrote this. It has everything I need to say to him. Everything I knew I wouldn't get the chance to say", she held an envelope in her hands. "Could you give it to him"  
"Of course", Patrick answered before hugging her again. She smiled at all of them once more before picking up her things and heading down towards Peter and Sophie. "So, um thanks for everything you guys, I know I've been a little brat most of the time so..." Charlie faded out.  
"Oh believe me, you weren't the first", Sophie replied.  
"You take care, all right", Peter said as Charlie took one last hug.  
"You guys are life savers, you know that?" Charlie said.  
"We do what we can", Peter smiled.  
"Well, I guess we better go", Sophie said as Peter finished putting the last suitcase in the boot.  
"I'll miss you guys", Charlie called back at the Cliff-hangers. She smiled at peter and got in the car, ready for Sophie to drive her to the airport.  
Charlie breathed in the sweet smell of wild flowers and the fresh air of the mountains one more time as Sophie drove them away. All the while the Cliff Hangers, her family, watched her leave. Damien sat on his bed with the curtain slightly opened, watching the car pull away his best friend. The best friend he thought he'd never really gotten to know.

Later the same day, Patrick walked into the kitchen and saw a brooding Damien making his lunch.  
"I have never in my life seen anyone put mustard on a pretzel", Patrick tried to make conversation.  
"Well, you're in for a treat", Damien said with fake enthusiasm. "Watch closely.  
Patrick had no sympathy for Damien. While the others even if they didn't agree, focused on the fact that Damien felt betrayed by Charlie, Patrick thought that even though the way Charlie went about it was wrong, the only thing Damien felt was guilt. He wasn't angry at Charlie. He just felt so much shame and repentance for what had happened to Charlie all those years ago. He forgot about her before because he couldn't handle knowing what he knew.  
"So, how are you feeling?" he asked as Damien continued spreading the mustard.  
Patrick smiled scoffing. "You're such an idiot, mate" he said almost under his breath.  
"She wanted to leave Patrick", Damien told him. "I couldn't change her mind.  
"Bollocks", Patrick interrupted him, "You and I both know that all you had to do was show up this morning and she would have changed her mind.  
"Well, she's gone, there's nothing I can do", Damien through down his knife in rage.  
"You mean there's nothing you're willing to do because if you did do something, you'd be admitting to everyone you were wrong to let her just leave", Patrick gave back what Damien was throwing at him. "I'll give you a little heads up on something, they already know. The only one who doesn't seem to know anything around here is you" He turned to leave. "Oh, I almost forgot, she gave me this to give to you, though I don't think you deserve it. I guess she sees something in you that I don't huh". Damien tried to look disinterested at the letter as Patrick walked away. He opened the envelope and carefully reached in for the letter. He took a seat and began reading.  
Dear Damien So this is how it all turns out huh? There are so many things I need to say to you. I just never knew how. So here it is, written down. I want to say once more, how sorry I am. I need you to understand that although I try to put on a brave face, I can't get over what happened. I try so hard to just forget. I know you blame yourself, and I wish you would stop, because none of this is your fault. I hope you can forgive me for the way it came out in the end. I honestly thought it would be easier, for the both of us. I've never gotten over the pain of it all. It's not that I don't smile, it's not that I can't laugh, it's just that inside I have this aching sadness that just carries on. Its agony. Complete excruciating agony. It's like you're heart has been ripped out and stomped on and you can't breathe, you don't wanna eat, you can't function. It's the most intense pain you'll ever feel and it's yours for life. Remember that day, when you found me unconscious in the woods. I'd Od'd. I did the only thing I knew how to do. I shut myself down completely. And in that moment I reached my ultimate goal. I didn't feel a thing. That moment I stopped living. I deal with these things every day. I hope this doesn't make you feel worse, because that's not what I wanted. You try to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders and you don't have to. You can't do everything. You can't stop everything from happening cos it will happen and againyou'll blame yourself even though it wasn't your baggage in the first place. Anyway, my guess is this is lying in a bin somewhere only half read. I hope someday you can forgive me.Love Charlie

Damien wiped a tear from his eye as he put the letter back into the envelope. The letter had said everything he already knew but wouldn't admit. In rage, he kicked a chair that was opposite from where he was sitting. From outside, Patrick came running in to see what had happened. He saw the look on Damien's face.  
"Do you know what time she leaves?" Damien asked as Patrick just smiled.

"Ok so how far is the airport from here?" Damien asked as they looked at an old map.  
"Maybe about half an hour", Patrick replied.  
"OK where's Peter?" Damien looked around.  
"Why"  
"Because we're stealing his car", Damien stood up, ready to leave.  
"Oh, nice touch", Patrick said in an 'I'm sorry I asked' sorta way.  
"Hey guys", Kat's voice came from behind them. Quickly they turned around hiding the map.  
"Hi", Patrick smiled.  
"Whats going on? You guys are acting weird", Kat asked suspiciously.  
"The boy's woken up", Patrick told her, "We're going to stop Charlie from going.  
"Pat"  
"What? She can help us with peter's car", Patrick exclaimed.  
"What about Peter's car"  
"Well, apparently the plan is to borrow it for a while", Patrick explained.  
"Oh, well that should be easy, considering Peter has his keys on him the whole time", Kat told them.  
"Well, well, well, look at this", Ryder came through the door, obviously having heard everything. "Planning an escape.  
Patrick just laughed bitterly "Great.  
"OK, Ryder, you cannot screw this up for us ok", Damien began, "I know you're miserable and you'd like to see me having the same pathetic, meaningless life as you, but this is for Charlie ok. We have to stop her from going to California.  
"You finished?" Ryder asked simply. "You wanna here my plan or shall I just go back to my pathetic meaningless life?"

"I should have known you'd know how to hot wire a car", Ryder said in a snobbish voice.  
"Well, it's a good thing I did, since you're plan worked out so well", Damien said as he walked towards the Peter's car.  
"So, do you know where to go?" Patrick asked changing the subject.  
"You're coming aren't you?" Damien asked. "Oh that's right", Ryder stirred, "You don't even have your licence yet. You don't know how to drive.  
"You know, Ryder, you're right, but if you lay down on the gravel I'll give it a try", Damien said aggravated.  
"Well, I can't drive either", Patrick told him. The two looked at each other defeated.  
"Well, I can", Kat suggested.  
"Kat you don't have to come", Damien said.  
"Why? She's my friend to, I want to come", Kat said.  
"What exactly do you think you're doing?" a strong voice sounded behind them. They could feel his presence towering over them even before they turned to see him.  
"Oh, hi Peter", Patrick managed to squeak out, "Fancy seeing you here.  
The four had no choice but to tell Peter everything that they were planning to do and hope he would let them do it.  
"So all this is for Charlie", peter asked.  
"She never wanted to leave, she only did because she thought she had to", Damien tried to explain. Peter sighed. He didn't need much persuading. He knew they were right. He never wanted Charlie to leave but in the end he couldn't stop her. But maybe Damien could.  
"Ok, ok, but I'm driving".

In the mess hall the remaining Cliff Hangers were lounging around talking about the mornings events.  
"Its gonna be weird not having Charlie around", Cristina whined.  
"Yeah guess you'll just have to find somebody else to pick on you huh", Shayne joked.  
As Cristina lay back into the couch Ryder came in ready to tell them the news.  
"Hey losers, just so you know, Golden Boys decided to get Charlie, peters taking him, kat and Patrick to the airport.  
"I saw Damien like, 20 minutes ago", Binna said, "He seemed pretty adamant about staying angry with her.  
"Yeah well, I guess he changed his mind", Ryder said.

At the airport Sophie and Charlie sat in the car. Charlie was trying to work up the courage to open the door. She couldn't believe how everything had turned out. Two days ago she was as happy as she had ever been. Or maybe that was the wrong choice of words. She'd never really been happy, but the last few days before everything happened, she was beginning to think she might actually get there.  
"Sophie, can I do this?" she turned to her.  
"Do you think you can do this?" Sophie asked in true councillor form.  
Charlie sat back in her seat. "I don't know.  
"Change is never easy", Sophie began, "You fight to hold on, you fight to let go.  
Charlie smiled. "You got that from the Wonder Years Sophie.  
"What can I say, it stuck", Sophie laughed. Charlie sighed before hugging her and opening the door.  
"Ok let's go".

"Come on Peter, her flight leaves soon", Damien urged.  
"I'm going as fast as I can", Peter argued.  
"Peter, what is this music", Patrick laughed.  
"Its Peter Frampton", Peter replied, "You don't like Peter Frampton.  
"Maybe if we were like 50", Kat laughed.  
"OK well, what kind of music do you like?" Peter asked sounding genuinely offended.  
"Thought you'd never ask", Damien said as he reached down and switched the station. "Hey I like this song.  
"Whats he saying", Peter asked quizzically.  
"I don't know", Damien answered. "But it's good, right?"

Finally they made it to the airport. Before Peter stopped the car Damien swung opened the door and ran to the huge grey building. He looked around frantically searching for Charlie. Not long after, Kat, Patrick and peter came running in. Damien spotted Sophie by herself. He started making his way to her but as he did he saw a glimpse of a girl smiling at the customs attendant. It was Charlie. "Charlie!", he yelled, oblivious to the looks he was getting. She looked up in his direction.  
"Damien", she muttered to herself as she saw him.  
"Peter, whats going on here?" Sophie asked.  
"Just trust me", Peter put a hand on Sophies shoulder.  
"Hold on", Charlie told the attendant before walking out to Damien, leaving her stuff behind.  
"Damien, what are you doing here"  
"Please don't leave because of me", Damien burst out.  
"What are you"  
Damien pulled out the letter from his jeans pocket. "Look I read your letter ok, I know you don't really wanna go. I'm sorry if I caused this, but I don't want you to leave. No one does", he didn't take a breath.  
Charlie sighed tearing up. "Damien, I think you're great, I do. A little self absorbed maybe but...The thing is, I need to start over. Not because of you, because of everything. Because of life.  
"That's crap and you know it", Damien interrupted. "You're running away. Again"  
"Damien"  
"No, when things get too hard, you run. It's what you do. You were running back then and you're still running now", he told her a little irritated.  
"I am not running", she said with force.  
"Oh really, what would you call it"  
"You know what, I gotta go", she turned away.  
"No, you're flight can wait", Damien grabbed her arm pulling her back.  
"Damien, let go", she warned him. He looked at her square in the eye. She couldn't help but look back. He saw a tear roll down her cheek and desperately wanted to hug her. "Damien, what do you want from me.  
"Everything", he said almost yelling. "Everything", he repeated softly.  
She quivered. "I can't give that to you", she told him softly.  
"Why not"  
"I'm scared", she admitted. He softened his glance before wiping away a tear on her face, with his finger.  
"I know you're scared. So am I. I'm scared of everything. But most of all, I'm scared of walking out of this airport and never feeling again, the way I feel when I'm with you", he said. She couldn't do what he was asking. She stepped away from him. "I have to go", she cried.  
"You don't have to be scared", he told her, "Not anymore. She looked at him sadly "Charlie, would you trust me?" he tried one last attempt "You can't trust someone who thinks you're crazy", she smiled. "Thanks for coming", she said, "Saying goodbye.  
She leaned in and hugged him tightly, not knowing if she was doing the right thing. As she turned to leave she gave a short wave to everyone.  
"Bye Bretones", she said quietly as she walked back to the attendant.  
Damien was gutted. He continued to watch her leave. He had failed. As he leaned his head on the glass, he saw her disappear into the crowd. He had lost her all over again.

Damien had gone straight to his dorm when he got back to Horizon, not wanting to talk to anyone. He felt as if life had always been against him. All he wanted was the one person that made him feel slightly less alone. He blamed himself. If he had just talked to her about everything she wouldn't have felt like she needed to leave in the first place.  
In the Mess hall, the rest of the group was sprawled out on the couch.  
"You should have seen him", Kat said, her head on Binna's shoulder. "He was devastated.  
"Well if it's meant to be, it's meant to be", Binna comforted her.  
"I wonder what the school's like in California", Ezra said.  
"Probably full of a bunch of losers", Cristina commented.  
"Imagine if the kids were exactly like us, complete doubles", Ryder said.  
"Ryder, I feel bad enough as it is. To know there are two of you running around would push me over the edge", Shayne joked.  
"Hey, Ruxton, did you tell Peter about your dad?" Ezra asked. In all the chaos over the last couple of days, David had forgotten about his problems. His father hadn't come to Horizon as he'd said he would, instead calling him and telling him to catch a bus back. "Yeah, I'm here for good", David answered simply.  
"How'd that go with your father?" Shayne wanted to know.  
"Not good. He hung up the phone and said that he's disowning me", David smiled.  
"I'm really sorry David", Shayne said.  
"Don't be, he would never disown me, it wouldn't be good for his reputation", David told her.

Later the same day, Patrick entered his dorm to find Damien sitting on his bed.  
"Hey man, how are you doing", Patrick asked.  
"Eh, you know", Damien replied vaguely. "Yeah I do", Pat smiled. "Hey, where about to play a game of soccer against the ridge runners. We're one player down if you're interested"  
"Everybody in"  
"Everybody but you", Patrick was glad to see Damien not taking Charlie leaving too hard. He realised it was tough for Damien to see her go, but life had to go on.  
"Ok but only cos it'll be good to kick the Ridgerunners asses again", Damien laughed.

The sun was going down in the mountains and the Cliff hangers were looking forward to beating the Ridge Runners once again. "Man these guys never give up", Binna said, "You'd think after beating them every single time that'd tell them something.  
"Well thats fine by me", Patrick said kicking the ball around. "I never get tired of seeing their faces at the end of a game.  
"Ok, everyone here?" Damien called, typically as the captain of the team.  
"They are now", a timid voice said from behind on the grassy field.  
The Cliff Hangers turned around. Damien knew that voice. They all did. Could it be her? Charlie was standing, bags in tow hoping she was doing the right thing.  
"Charlie", Kat screamed before running up to her and hugging her. "Oh my god, you're back.  
Charlie smiled, dropping her bags. "I missed my flight.  
The group came up to her all at once and hugged her. Charlie couldn't understand either one of their questions as they were talking over each other, so excited, as if she was the best thing since sliced bread. She was overwhelmed, but most of all she couldn't hear them because all she could do was concentrate on Damien still standing in the same spot, not moving. Just staring at her. As they all backed off, the two couldn't take their eyes of each other.  
"You missed you're flight?" Damien asked making sure he heard right, still standing metres away, refusing to come closer.  
"Yeah.  
"So, when's the next one?" he continued, hoping he knew what her answer would be.  
She looked at him confused. "There's not a next one.  
Relief came over his face even though he knew all along. He walked up to her; coming up so close it would have been unsettling, had it not been Damien. She looked up at him as he looked down at her.  
"So why'd you really come back", he asked softly, centimetres away from kissing her.  
"You said once, that you thought we made sense", she began, "I thought we didn't. I was sitting on that plain ready to go to California and realised the only thing that doesn't make sense is the fact that I was about to leave in the first place". She smiled at him shyly. She wasn't the Charlie that had left that morning. She seemed so unsure of herself. You would never believe that the Charlie Damien was staring at was once the tough on the exterior outspoken street kid. But that was ok to him. He realised then, that the girl he truly loved was the Charlie she was now. The Charlie she was when they were children. The Charlie that Damien knew was in her all along. He'd seen it, poking out a couple of times, even at Horizon. And he loved her.  
He smiled at her, a mischievous spark in his eye. "I knew you wouldn't go.  
She laughed. "Why's that"  
"You're my best friend, you'd never leave me", he said quoting himself from way back when. She smiled at him again. He'd remembered that day in the park.  
"Besides you may not be 10 years old anymore, but you still can't cook", he laughed joking. She laughed with him before quietening. Again, he looked at her, into her glistening eyes. He brushed her hair out of the way before gently lifting her chin so her mouth was level with his. Without hesitation he kissed her softly and tenderly. On instinct she lifted her arms and placed them around his neck, letting out a small laugh. She was finally happy as she kissed him again. The others watched, some genuinely happy, some amused by the show, but as for Damien and Charlie. They had forgotten about everyone.  
"Hey", Damien held her waste.  
"Mmm hmm", she said beyond words.  
"I love you", Damien told her. She looked at him, biting her lip, smiling bashfully.  
"Come here", she brought him back to her and kissed him again, neither one of them wanting to let go of the other.

It was a happy end to a long day and although all the Cliff Hangers were in high spirits, they knew that they still had a long way to go yet. Binna, Kat, Ezra, David, Patrick, Shayne, Ryder, Cristina, Damien and Charlie had learnt so much over the last year and they were bound to learn a lot more and have to deal with a lot more problems. But for now they would forget everything else and enjoy themselves. There was something in the air and nothing could bring them down. As Binna kissed Kat he wondered about next year before realising, he didn't want to think about it now. He had found her and that's all that mattered. The Cliff Hangers had one more thing to do before going to the cafeteria. They had to beat a couple of Ridge Runners in a game of football and with Charlie back, they knew it would be easy. As Charlie scored the first goal, Damien picked her up by her waste and kissed her. After years of the young couple's life, they were finally together and for now, nothing would change that.

THE END

Ok, ok so I know it's corny but screw it, I like corn haha.  
That was the end of the story. It's been a pleasure to write. Please, please, please review!  
Cheers people 


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